OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  m  the  year  1842,  by 
GEORGE  A.  WARD, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


University  Press, 

JOHN  F.  TROW,  PRINTER. 

114  Nassau-street, 

NEW-YORK 


PREFACE 


THE  original  manuscripts  from  which  the  body  of  the  following 
work  has  been  compiled,  were  sent  in  detached  parts  by  the  re 
spected  writer  to  his  niece,  a  grand-parent  of  the  editor,  (in  whose 
family  they  have  remained  for  more  than  sixty  years,)  with  the 
following  injunction,  viz. : 

"  These  papers  were  written  partly  by  way  of  pastime,  and  part 
ly  with  a  view  to  future  amusement,  should  it  please  the  Sovereign 
Disposer  of  life  to  lengthen  mine  beyond  the  period  of  banishment 
and  restore  me  again  to  my  native  country;  otherwise  may  they 
prove  an  entertainment  to  my  friends,  to  whom  I  commend  them, 
requesting  their  care  to  keep  them  from  the  inspection  of  all  others, 
they  being  negligently  written  and  but  for  the  eye  of  candor  and 
friendship,  without  method  or  order,  as  memory  served,  whereby 
many  faults  and  anachronisms  happened  (if  a  technical  expression 
applied  to  more  important  events  may  be  used  about  such  insigni 
ficant  trifles) ;  if  they  shall  afford  them  the  least  amusement,  my 
purpose  will  be  answered." 

The  editor  considers  the  present  publication  of  these  papers -not 
only  as  in  no  wise  a  violation  of  the  injunction  of  his  venerated 
relative,'  but  as  due  to  his  memory,  to  exhibit  to  his  countrymen  the 
purity  of  his  motives,  and  the  ardent  affection  he  bore  towrards  his 
native  land,  even  when  constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  turn  his 
back  upon  it.  Another  inducement  for  the  publication  is  furnished 
by  the  incidental  light  thrown  upon  the  character  of  his  brethren 
in  exile,  of  wrhom  scarcely  any  now  survive,  but  whose  numerous 
descendants  feel  a  deep  sense  of  the  injustice  to  which  most  of  them, 
in  a  season  of  great  popular  excitement,  were  unfortunately  sub 
jected,  who,  under  less  adverse  circumstances,  had  filled  with  honor 
civil  posts  of  high  trust,  and  led  to  victory  our  arms  in  the  provin 
cial  wars.  As  the  just  fame  of  such  as  have  distinguished  them 
selves  in  important  public  concerns  has  ever  been  esteemed  among 
the  most  valued  treasures  of  civilized  nations,  that  of  these  loyalists, 
banished  for  opinion's  sake,  seems  to  call  for  a  proper  vindication 
at  the  hands  of  an  impartial  posterity,  while  the  contrast  of  their 


iv  PREFACE. 

later  with  their  earlier  fortunes  presents  strong  claims  to  the  sym 
pathy  of  mankind. 

The  success  of  recent  publications  in  the  department  of  histori 
cal  writing  having  induced  the  belief  that  the  period  has  arrived 
when  a  sealed  book  may  be  opened,  and  a  dispassionate  examina 
tion  had  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  that  portion  of  our 
history  in  which  the  character  of  this  proscribed  class  of  our  coun 
trymen  is  involved,  this  work  is  offered  with  the  hope  of  removing 
to  some  extent,  if  not  fully,  whatever  obloquy  has  been  unjustly 
cast  upon  their  names,  and  to  show  that  they  were,  in  many  in 
stances,  not  the  less  actuated  by  lofty  principle  than  those  who 
embraced  the  popular  opinions  of  the  day,  and  adopted  measures 
which  resulted  in  such  transcendant  success. 

The  editor  has  endeavored  to  present  in  the  Supplement,  if  not 
a  full,  at  least  a  brief  account  of  every  prominent  loyalist,  as  well 
as  of  other  persons  of  note,  mentioned  in  the  work ;  and  he  regrets 
that  want  of  information,  notwithstanding  every  effort  to  obtain  it, 
has  in  some  cases  rendered* his  notices  extremely  imperfect,  and  in 
others  left  no  alternative  but  to  omit  them  altogether. 

Before  the  publication  was  decided  upon,  the  editor  submitted 
the  work  to  Dr.  Sparks,  the  distinguished  American  historian,  and 
to  George  Folsom,  Esq.,  of  the  publishing  committee  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society,  and  editor  of  the  society's  recent  excellent 
volume  of  Collections ;  whose  favorable  opinion  of  the  historical 
value  of  the  journal  and  correspondence  of  Judge  Curwen,  ex 
pressed  in  their  respective  letters  already  laid  before  the  public, 
confirmed  him  in  the  design  of  giving  to  the  light  these  interesting 
relics  of  a  former  generation,  to  which  he  feared  his  private  re 
gard  for  the  memory  of  the  venerated  author  might  have  attached 
undue  importance.  He  presents  his  sincere  thanks  to  those  gentle 
men  for  their  encouraging  letters,  and  the  kind  interest  they  have 
taken  in  the  matter. 

The  work  is  now  submitted  to  the  public  by  the  Editor,  without 
endorsing  principles  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  and 
shou  d  it  prove  successful  and  draw  into  this  new  field  more  com 
petent  laborers,  the  chief  end  of  the  publication  will  be  attained. 

G.  A.  WARD. 
Neiv-York,  November,  1842. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY  MEMOIR  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

His  ancestry,  birth,  and  education — visits  Europe — returns  and  engages 
in  commerce  at  Salem — joins  the  expedition  against  Louisburg 
— extracts  from  his  journal  during  the  campaign — an  account  of  the 
expedition — appointed  impost  officer  for  Essex  county — literary 
clubs  at  Salem — affairs  in  Massachusetts  before  the  Revolution — 
difficulties  with  the  governors  Bernard,  Hutchinson,  and  Gage —  v- 
commencement  of  the  Revolution — departure  of  the  author  to  Phila 
delphia,  and  thence  to  England — his  return  and  death — number  of 
exiles  from  Massachusetts,  ....  pp.  9-24. 

JOURNAL  AND  LETTERS. 

CHAPTER  I.  A.  D.  1775-1776.— Causes  of  the  author's  departure— 
his  arrival  in  Philadelphia — state  of  affairs  in  that  city — perplexities  - 
of  the  author — he  meets  Col.  WASHINGTON — reception  of  Hancock 
and  Adams — the  author  sails  for  England — arrives  at  Dover — pro-  ' 
ceeds  to  London— dines  in  company  with  Mrs.  Copley,  mother  of  / 
Lord  Lyndhurst— Samuel  Quincy,  Jonathan  Sewall,  Benjamin  Pick- 
man— letters  to  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard,  William  Pynchon,  &c.— dines 
with  Gov.  Hutchinson — visits  Bow-street,  Hampton  Court,  Windsor, 
Twickenham,  Newington,  &c.— -  destruction  of  Falmouth  (now  Port 
land),  Maine— New  England  Club  in  London— meets  Sir  Francis 
Bernard— attends  oratorio  of  Messiah  at  Covent  Garden— lecture  at 
Salters'  Hall  by  Dr.  Price— visits  Chapter  House— doomsday  book 
—  Portuguese  synagogue— West's  pictures— Tylney  House— Lord 
Mansfield's  seat  of  Caen  Wood — great  bed  of  Ware — Rye  House 
—Westminster  Hall— Maddock's  garden — Pinchbeck's— Boar's-head 
tavern— British  museum— Duke  of  Bedford's  seat  at  Croydon — Rev, 
Dr.  Apthorp— Rev.  Mr.  Peters,  pp.  25-64. 

CHAPTER  II.  A.  D.  1776 —Leaves  London  for  the  country— visits 
Salisbury— Stonehenge— Exeter— Sidmouth— Rev.  Isaac  Smith- 
letter  from  Thomas  Danforth— visits  Bristol— Birmingham — Tewks- 
bury— Gloucester— returns  to  Bristol— Ratcliff  church — Admiral 
Penn— Clifton  grotto— Shepton  Mallet— Lord  Arundel's  seat— cabi 
net  of  Pope  Sixtus  V. — Alfred's  tower — spinning-jennies,  pp.  64-81. 

1 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III.  A.  D.  1776.-Visits  Bath-Meets  Col.  Saltonstall  and 
Mr.  Boylston— Longleat,  seat  of  Lord  Weymouth— Glastonbury  Ab 
bey  ruins — Bridgewater— Enmore  Castle,  seat  of  Earl  Egmont — 
Taunton— Sidmouth— Slade— Dr.  Shebbeare— supposed  Danish  en 
campment  at  Hembury— Admiral  Graves  Exeter— news  from  New 
York  in  Bristol  Gazette  -  election  of  member  of  parliament  at  Exe 
ter,  candidates  Baring  and  Choi wich- visits  Lord  Courtenay's  Bel- 
videre— birth-place  of  Sir  Francis  Drake— news  from  America— ru 
mors  of  war  between  England  and  France— electioneering  in  Eng 
land—remarks  on  election  at  Exeter  -  Baring  elected  -  advices  from 
Gen.  Burgoyne- report  of  Washington's  defeat  at  Kingsbridge — re 
marks  on  the  tone  of  Englishmen  towards  America,  and  vindication 
of  the  latter— letters  to  George  Russell,  William  Pynchon,  and 
Judge  Sewall,  .  .  pp.  81-95. 

CHAPTER  IV.  A.  D.  1777.— Author  completes  his  sixty-f rst  year- 
remarks  on  the  commencement  of  the  new  year—  letters — Dr.  Dodd's 
case— visits  Plymouth— Exeter— Bristol— journey  to  London— en 
gages  lodgings  at  Brompton  Row,  near  London— dines  with  Gov. 
Hutchinson— meets  B.  Hallowell— Thomas  Russell -visits  Christ 
Church  Hospital— the  institution  described— visits  Cromwell's  gar 
den,  in  company  with  Judge  Sewall  and  Abel  Willard— attends 
New  England  club  at  Mr.  Blowers'— dines  with  Harrison  Gray — 
letter  to  Rev.  Isaac  Smith  on  American  affairs,  .  pp.  95-108. 

CHAPTER  V.  A.  D.  1777.  Journey  from  London  to  Ipswich,  in  com 
pany  with  Judge  Sewall  and  Abel  Willard — passes  through  Rum- 
ford,  Ingatestone,  Witham,  Colchester — description  of  Colchester — 
Roman  antiquities — arrival  at  Ipswich — an  unpleasing  town — leaves 
it  for  Cambridge— Newmarket  races— description  of  Trinity  College- 
river  Cam — University  library — returns  to  London — journey  to  Ox 
ford — visits  Queen's  College — Jesus'  College — Merton  College — 
/  Christ  Church  College — library — Allsouls — meets  Sir  F.  Bernard — 
/  leaves  Oxford — visits  Blenheim  House  at  Woodstock — Bicester — 
Buckingham — Stow  Gardens — Lord  George  Germaine — Earl  Tem 
ple—Coventry — Birmingham — Leasowes  of  Shenstone — Hagley, 
Lord  Lyttelton's  estate — Hales  Owen— fair — returns  to  Birming 
ham,  ......  pp.  108-124. 

CHAPTER  VI.  A.  D.  1777.— Fair  at  Birmingham— Soho  Gardens— 
Ashton  Park — the  author  leaves  Birmingham  for  Sheffield — first 
stage  Lichfield — cathedral  described — Burton — the  great  Stafford 
shire  canal — Derby  silk  mills — porcelain  manufactory— Kiddlestone, 
seat  of  Lord  Scarsdale — Ashburn — residence  of  Chaucer — Castle- 
ton—remarkable  cave  described — arrival  at  Sheffield— colliery — 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Wakefield— original  of  Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield  named  John 
son — Leeds — Armley— Huddersfield — Halifax — a  great  manufactur 
ing  town— Rochdale — Manchester — Duke  of  Bridgewater's  canal — 
St.  John's  church — coal  mines  at  Worsley — description  of  Manches 
ter — journey  to  Bristol — Stockport — Macclesfield — Leek— manufac 
tories — Sandon— Stafford— Penkridge— Wolverhampton — manufac 
tories— Stourbridge—Bromesgrove— Worcester— Cathedral  describ 
ed— Tevvksbury— Gloucester — Newport— Bristol,  pp.  124-142. 

CHAPTER  VII.  A.  D.  1777.— Entry  of  member  of  parliament  elect 
into  Bristol — the  author  visits  the  cathedral — Stapleton — Dundry 
tower — Bath — American  privateers  in  St.  George's  Channel — visit 
to  Wales — Swansea — Welsh  customs — Neath — Cowbridge— Car 
diff— Newport — return  to  Bristol — advices  from  New- York — adven 
ture  of  Charles  II. — Dean  Tucker — John  Wesley — journey  to  Exe 
ter — Sidmouth — Axrninster — birth-place  of  the  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough — carpet  manufactories — Thorncombe — Culliford — Slade — 
Ottery — return  to  Exeter — news  of  Gen.  Burgoyne's  surrender — 
close  of  the  year,  .  .  .  pp.  142-162. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  A.  D.  1778.— Letter  on  American  affairs— enumera 
tion  of  troops  to  be  sent  to  America — Lord  Abington's  motion — pas 
sage  from  Dr.  Robertson — ceremony  of  installing  a  bishop — writers 
in  the  Spectator — amount  of  captures  by  American  privateers — Rev. 
Sir  Henry  Trelawney — political  letters — report  of  a  treaty  be 
tween  France  and  the  United  States — war  between  England  and 
France,  .  .  .  .  ,.  '  .  pp.  162-181. 

CHAPTER  IX.  A.  D.  1778.— Letter  to  Judge  Sewall  on  public  affairs 
—remarks  on  ability  of  England  to  sustain  a  war  with  France — pub 
lic  credit — number  of  troops  sent  to  America — French  medal  in 
honor  of  Washington — commissioners  to  settle  the  dispute  with 
v  America — Massachusetts  exclusion  bill — excursion  to  Tiverton — the 
author  removes  his  lodgings  from  Exeter  to  Sidmouth — ride  to 
Taunton — Colyton — Woodbury  castle,  the  remains  of  a  Danish  fort 
— ordination  of  Rev.  Isaac  Smith  at  Sidmouth— procession  of  lace- 
makers  at  Honiton,  .  .  .  .  pp.  181-198. 

CHAPTER  X.  A.  D.  1778.— Excursion  to  the  west— Otter  ton— 
Lympstone — Teignmouth — Newton  Bushel — Dartmouth — Torbay 
— Bridgtown  —  Chudleigh  —  Exeter — returns  to  Sidmouth — visits 
beach  at  Axrninster — letters  on  public  affairs — excursion  to  Wey- 
mouth  and  Portland — Melcomb  Regis — island  of  Portland  described 
— Roman  remains — Dorchester— advices  from  New-York — quits 
Sidmouth  for  Exeter— Arden's  course  of  lectures  on  experimental 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

philosophy — letter  from  Judge  Sewall — number  of  ships  taken  by 
the  French — votes  of  the  bishops  on  the  American  war — the  author 
completes  his  sixty-third  year,  .  .  pp.  198-212. 

CHAPTER  XI.  A.  D.  1779.— Origin  of  custom  of  making  presents  on 
New  Year's  day — letters  on  public  affairs — British  fleet  at  Torbay — 
Lord  North  announces  departure  of  Spanish  minister— ordination  at 
Lympstone — combined  fleet  of  France  and  Spain  off  Plymouth — 
author  suspected  of  being  an  American  spy— leaves  Exeter  for  Bris 
tol — dines  with  Mr.  Vassall — Dr.  Gardiner — Captain  Carpenter 
arrives  with  letters,  etc.,  from  Salem — Mrs.  Erving — William  Ca 
bot,  ....  .  pp.  212-229. 

CHAPTER  XII.  A.  D.  1780.— Manilla  ship  described— visit  to  Bath 
— letters — Mr.  Washington,  a  Moravian  preacher— celebration  of 
Admiral  Rodney's  victory  over  Don  Langara — death  of  William 
Hutchinson — number  of  Americans  at  Bristol,  and  their  names — 
remarks  on  the  theatre — on  public  affairs — advices  from  General 
Clinton  in  South  Carolina — his  success — tour  to  the  north  in  com 
pany  with  the  Sewalls — Newport — Newton — Honiton — Kiddermin 
ster — Brosely — Shrewsbury — residence  of  Samuel  Porter — Elles- 
mere — Wrexham — Chester — Warrington — canal  locks  at  Runcorn 
— Liverpool — Peak  of  Derbyshire — Derby — Wolverhampton — iron 
bridge  at  Brosely— ^ctfrious  celebration  of  Gen.  Clinton's  success 
at  Charleston  by  S.  Sewall — passage  on  the  Severn  from  Bridge- 
north  to  Worcester — adventure  with  a  footpad — return  to  Bristol — 
riots  described  in  letter  to  W.  Pynchon — leaves  Bristol  for  London 
— amusing  sign  at  Devizes — arrival  in  London,  .  pp.  229-262. 

CHAPTER  XIII.  A.  D.  1780,-^Letter  to  Judge  Sewall  giving  an  ac 
count  of  the  reported  dark  day  in  America — reply  of  Sewall — visit 
to  ruins  of  King's  Bench  prison  and  Surrey  Bridewell,  destroyed  by 
mob — remarks  on  the  evil  of  French  troops  in  America — opening  of 
Bartholemew  fair  by  the  Lord  Mayor  at  Smithfield — Richmond  gar 
dens — elections  in  London — Saddler's  Wells — Plowden's  funeral 
monument  at  the  Temple — Roman  coins — disputing  club— excursion 
to  Hempsted,  .  ,  .  .  .  pp.  262-285. 

CHAPTER  XIV.  A.  D.  1780— Visit  to  Parliament-house— Ladies' 
disputing  society — Guildhall  meeting — Lord  Mayor's  day — chancery 
court— Essex  House  chapel— Rev.  Mr.  Lindsay— Carlisle  House- 
Montague  House — British  Museum — lottery  drawing  at  Guildhall 
— disputing  club — affair  of  Major  Andre — Mr.  Copley's  picture-room 
—painting  of  death  of  Lord  Chatham,  etc.  .  .  pp.  285-298. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XV.  A.  D.  1781.— Description  of  entertainment  at  Covent 
Garden  theatre — letters — American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
founded  in  Massachusetts — trial  of  Lord  George  Gordon — visit  to 
Priory,  Clerkenwell — Greenwich  Hospital — Mrs.  Cowley's  new  play 
— Col.  now  Governor  Browne — House  of  Commons — debate — Mr. 
Burke— visit  to  Westminster  Abbey— Mary-le-bone— Dr.  Priestley — 
British  Museum— curiosities  seen  there— Benj.  Thompson,  (Count 
Rumford,)— intercepted  letter  of  General  Washington— excursion  to 
Windsor— personal  description  of  the  King  and  Queen— Eton  Col 
lege — Chiswick  House — news  of  the  burning  of  New  London — Ad 
miral  Rodney's  fleet  at  Torbay— consequences  of  surrender  of 
Lord  Cornwallis— Henry  Laurens  discharged  from  the  tower  on 
bail,  ....  .  pp.  298-330. 

CHAPTER  XVI.  A.D.  1782.— Letters— visit  to  the  Queen's  house- 
domestic  habits  of  the  King— letter  from  Judge  Oliver— secret  ser 
vice  list  for  1781— General  Burgoyne— Welsh  procession— disgrace 
of  Lord  George  Germaine— defeat  of  ministers— general  rejoicing  in 
England— Lord  Surrey  and  Benedict  Arnold— new  ministry— anec 
dote  of  the  Prince  of  Wales— Lord  North — excursion  to  Hampton 
Court— division  in  the  cabinet— Admiral  Barrington— news  of  the 
defeat  of  the  French  fleet  by  Admiral  Rodney— Maddocks  the  florist 
— anecdote  of  the  Shakspeare  mug— Parson  Wiswall— new  arrange 
ment  of  the  ministry— visit  to  House  of  Commons— Parson  Peters — 
Sir  William  Pepperell— Lord  Howe— Sterne's  private  character— 
public  notice  of  a  provisional  treaty  between  England  and  the 
United  States— state  of  parties— Sir  Wm.  Draper,  .  pp.  330-362. 

CHAPTER  XVII.  A.D.  1783.— Meeting  of  refugees  at  Sir  Wm.  Pep- 
perell's— death  of  Mr.  Flucker— uncertain  prospects  of  the  loyalists— 
Dr.  Graham's  lecture  on  health— meeting  of  the  Royal  Society 
described— public  affairs— procession  in  honor  of  Fox— Mrs.  Siddons 
at  Drury-lane— visit  to  the  House  of  Lords— Mr.  de  Berdt— excursion 
to  Herts — Hoddesdon — letters — St.  Giles's— peace  proclaimed  with 
France,  Spain,  and  Holland— Nathaniel  Gorham— Macklin  at  Covent 
Garden.  .  .  .  pp.  362-396. 

CHAPTER  XVIII.  A.  D.  1784.— Pitt's  East  India  bill  lost— the  author 
v  receives  letters  from  Salem  encouraging  his  return — riots  in  London 
between  followers  of  Pitt  and  Fox— Dr.  Watson,  bishop  of  Llandaff— 
letters  from  William  Pynchon— funeral  of  Sheriff  Turner— letter 
from  Judge  Sewall— the  author's  petition  for  leave  to  return  to  •• 
America,  and  to  appoint  an  agent  to  receive  his  pension — visit  to  the 
Treasury — preparations  for  leaving  England— embarks  in  ship 
Union— fellow-passengers— land  at  Cowes,  Isle  of  Wight— excursion 
on  the  island— arrival  at  Boston — Captain  Coombs— the  author's 
classmates— letter  from  Noah  Clap,  .  .'  pp.  396-419. 


X  CONTENTS. 

SUPPLEMENT. 

ILLUSTRATIVE    DOCUMENTS.  PAGE 

Address  of  the  merchants  and  others  of  Boston  to  Governor  Hutch- 

inson,  May  10,  1774,  .  .  .  .  423 

Address    of  the   inhabitants  of  Marblehead  to  the    same,   May 

25,1774,         .......  426 

Address  of  the  barristers  and  attornies  of  Massachusetts  to  the  same. 

May  30,   1774,          ......  427 

Recantations  of  several  of  the  Salem  "  addressers,"  May  30,  1774,    429 
Address  of  the  merchants  and  others  of  Salem  to  Governor  Gage, 

June  24,  1774,  .  .  .  . '          .  .  431 

Names  of  the  gentlemen  and  principal  inhabitants  of  Boston  who 

signed  an  address  to  the  same,  Oct.  16,  1775,          .  .  432 

Names  of  gentlemen  driven  into  Boston  who  signed  a  loyal  address 

to  the  same,  October  14,  1775,        .  .  .  434 

Conspirators  act  of  Massachusetts,  Sept.  30,  1779,         .  .  434 

Confiscation  act  of         do.,  April  30,  1779.         .  .  436 

Banishment  act  of          do.,  Sept.  1778,  .  .  443 

Counsellors  of  do.,         appointed  by    writ  of  mandamus, 

August  9,  1774,         .  438 

Worcester  (Massachusetts)   Resolutions  respecting  refugees  and 

absentees,  May  19, 1783,  (referred  to  in  page  382,)  .  444 

BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES. 

A.  Burgoyne,  General  John        .    469 
Adams,  John          .        .        .    460    Byles,  Rev.  Matthew     .        .    494 
Adams,  Samuel     .        .         .    459 

Allen,  Judge  William    .  .  486                               C. 

Apthorp,  Rev.  Dr.  East  .  533  Carleton,  General  Sir  Guy  .  468 

Auchmuty,  Rev.  Dr.  Saml.  .  511  Caswell,  Richard            .  .  484 

Auchmuty,  Judge  Robert  »  511  Chandler,  Nathaniel      .  .  550 

Chandler,  Rufus             .  .  522 

B.  Chandler,  William         .  .  551 
Badger,  Rev.  Moses      .  .  551  Chipman,  Judge  Ward  .  492 
Baring,  Sir  Francis        .  .  541  Clarke,  Rev.  William     .  .  499 
Bernard,  Sir  Francis      .  .  453  Clarke,  Richard     .         .  .  505 
Bernard,  Sir  Thomas     .  .  524  Clinton,  Gen.  Sir  Henry  .  473 
Bliss,  Daniel           .        .  .518  Coffin,  Nathaniel    .         .  .484 
Bliss,  Jonathan       .        .  .  508  Coffin,  Thomas  Aston    .  .  484 
Blowers,  Judge  S.  S.      .  .  480  Colden,  Governor  Cadw'r.  .  537 
Borland,  John  L.            .  .  500  Cooper,  Rev.  Dr.  Myles  .  538 
Boutineau,  James           .  .  492  Copley,  John  S.  503 
Boylston,  Ward  Nicholas  .  466  Cornwallis,  General  Lord  .  473 
Brattle,  Major  Thomas  .  510  Curwen's,  ancestors       .  .  445 
Brinley,  Thomas    .         .  .  484  Curtis,  Charles       .        .  .  531 
Browne,  Colonel  William  .  500  Cushing,  Governor  Thomas  .  460 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


D.  PAGE 

Dana,  Judge  Francis     .  .  476 

Danforth,  Thomas         .  .  515 

De  Grasse,  Count  Joseph  .  543 

Dorchester,  Lord  .        .  .  468 

Draper,  Sir  William      .  .  525 

E. 

Edson,  Colonel  Josiah    .  .  547 

Erving,  George      .        .  .  524 

Erving,  Colonel  John,  Jr.  .  493 

F. 

Faneuil,  Benjamin          .  .  492 

Fenton,  Captain  John     .  .  493 

Fisher,  John           .        .  .507 

Flucker,  Thomas  .        .  .506 

Franklin,  Gov.  William  .  552 

Frye,  Colonel  Peter       .  .513 

G. 

Galloway,  Joseph  .        .  .  527 

Gardiner,  Dr.  Sylvester  .  535 

Gates,  General  Horatio  .  475 

Goodhue,  Hon.  Benjamin  .  488 

Gorham,  Hon.  Nathaniel  .  532 

Gray,  Hon.  Harrison      .  .  506 

Green,  Joseph        .        .  .  465 

Green,  Francis       .        .  .  499 

Greenleaf,  Stephen        .  .  497 

Gridley,  Benjamin         .  .  528 

Gridley,  Colonel  Richard  .  452 

H. 

Hallowell,  Benjamin      . .  .  518 

Hancock,  John       .        .  .  457 

Harrison,  Gov.  Benjamin  .  462 

Hawley,  Major  Joseph  .  .  504 

Hevves,  Joseph       .        .  .  485 

Holyoke,  Dr.  E.  A.        .  .  489 

Hooper,  Joseph      .        .  .  467 

Hovey,  Ivory         .        .  .  560 

Howe,  Admiral  Lord     .  .  473 

Howe,  General  Sir  William  .  474 

Hutchinson,  Elisha        .  .502 


PAGE 

Hutchinson,  Judge  Foster  .    547 

Hutchinson,  G  >v.  Thomas  .    454 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  Jr.  .    499 

Hutchinson,  William      .  .    503 

I. 

Ingersoll,  Hon.  Jared    .  .    502 

Jeffries,  Dr.  John   .        .  .    537 

Jackson,  Hon.  Jonathan  .    528 

L. 

Lee,  Judge  Joseph*        .  .    487 

Leonard,  Daniel     .        .  .    548 

Lloyd,  Dr.  James  .        .  .    517 

Loring,  Com.  Joshua     .  .    523 

Love'l,  Rev.  Benjamin  .  .    552 

Lynde,  Judge  Benjamin  .    490 

M. 

Marston,  Benjamin         .  .    543 

Mauduit,  Jasper     .        .  .    466 

Mauduit,  Israel      .        .  .466 

Mifflin,  Governor  Thomas  .    485 

Moulton,  Col.  Jeremiah  .    451 

Murray,  Colonel  John    .  .    492 

O. 

Oliver,  Brinley  S.  .        .  .    550 

Oliver,  Daniel        .        .  .510 

Oliver,  Dr.  Peter    .        .  .511 

Oliver,  Governor  Andrew  .     462 

Oliver,  Governor  Thomas  .     515 

Oliver,  Judge  Andrew  .  .    488 

Oliver,  Judge  Peter       .  .    516 

Oliver,  Peter,  Jr.    .        .  .551 

Orne,  Timothy       .        .  .    504 

Otis,  Hon.  S.  Allyne      .  .    535 

Oxnard,  Edward   .        .  .508 

P. 

Paine,  Judge  Robert  T.  .    461 

Paine,  Dr.  William        .  .    551 

Paxton,  Charles     .        .  .537 
Pepperell,  Gen.  Sir  William     449 


Xll 


CON  TENTS, 


PAGE 

Pepperell,  Sir  William  .  .    526 

Phips,  Colonel  David     .  .    527 

Porter,  Samuel      .        •  .     510 

Peters,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  A.  .    504 

Pickering,  Hon.  Timothy  .     477 
Pickman,  Colonel  Benjamin  .     502 

Poynton,  Captain  Thomas  .     515 

Prince,  Dr.  John    .        .  .467 

Putnam,  Judge  James    .  .     514 

Putnam,  James,  Jr.         .  .     552 

Pynchon,  William          .  .    487 

a. 

Q,uincy,  Hon.  Samuel    .  463,  561 

R. 

Reed,  General  Joseph  .  .    486 

Robie,  Thomas      .        .  .491 

Ropes,  Judge  Nathaniel  .    490 

Routh,  Richard      .        .  .493 

Rogers,  Samuel      .        .  .    543 

Rogers,  Jeremiah  D.      .  .    552 

Royal,  General  Isaac     .  .    523 

Ruggles,  Gen.  Timothy  .    508 

Rumford,  Count      .        .  .497 

Russell,  Judge  Chambers  .    516 

Russell,  Dr.  Charles       .  .513 

S. 

Saltonstall,  Col.  Richard  .    548 

Sargent,  Jolni         .        .  .492 

Sewall,  Judge  Jonathan  .    463 

Sewall,  Samuel      .        .  .    506 

Shippen,  Dr.  William    .  .    485 


PAGE 

Shirley,  Gov.  William    .  .    450 

Simpson,  Jonathan        .  .     493 

Smith,  Judge  William   .  .     501 

Smith,  Rev.  Isaac  .        .  .     465 

Sparhawk,  Samuel  H.    .  .    497 

T. 

Temple,  Robert    .        .  .497 

Thompson,  Benjamin     .  .     497 

Troutbeck,  Rev.  J.         .  .511 

U. 

Upham,  Judge  Joshua  .  .519 

V. 

Vassall,  John         .        .  .515 
Vassall,  William    ...    547 

Vaughan,  Col.  William  .    452 

W. 

Waldo,  Francis     .         .  .    518 

Ward,  Richard       .        .  .533 

Waterhouse,  Samuel     .  .    513 

Wilkins,  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  .    555 

Willard,  Abel         .        .  .521 

Willard,  Colonel  Abijah  .     520 

Wentworth,  Gov.  Sir  John  .    501 

Williams,  Elijah    .        .  .528 

Williams,  Seth       .        .  .543 

Winslow,  Edward,  Jr.   .  .    543 

Winslow,  Pelham  .        •  .548 

Winthrop,  Admiral  Robert  .    528 

Winthrop,  Gov.  Thos.  L.  .531 

Wiswall,  Rev.  John       .  .511 


INTRODUCTORY    MEMOIR. 


THE  paternal  ancestry  of  SAMUEL  CURWEN,  the  author  of  the 
Journal  and  Correspondence  now  submitted  to  the  public,  were  for 
many  centuries  amongst  the  leading  families  in  the  county  of  Cum 
berland,  in  the  north  of  England,  where  the  family  seat,  named 
Workington  Hall,  still  remains.  George  Curwin,  his  immediate 
ancestor,  was  an  early  emigrant  to  New  England,  having  established 
his  residence  in  1638  at  Salem,  in  the  then  recent  colony  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay,  where  he  continued  to  reside  during  the  residue  of  a 
long  life.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  contemporaries,  for  his 
active  and  energetic  character,  and  for  several  years  represented 
his  adopted  town  in  the  "  General  Court,"  or  legislative  assembly 
of  the  colony.  He  also  commanded  a  squadron  of  horse  in  the 
Indian  wars  that  spread  desolation  throughout  the  frontier  settle 
ments  of  New  England,  and  assisted  in  checking  the  inroads  of  the 
savage  foe.  He  died  at  Salem  in  1685,  at  the  age  of  seventy- four 
years,  leaving  a  large  estate.  His  son,  Jonathan  Corwin,*  was  of 
the  provincial  council  named  in  the  Massachusetts  charter  granted 
by  William  and  Mary  in  1691,  and  a  judge  of  the  superior  court 
of  the  province;  he  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Gibbs. 
George  Curwin,  a  fruit  of  this  connection,  was  the  father  of  our 
author :  he  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  (then  the  only  collegiate 
institution  in  British  America,)  in  1701,  and  was  for  a  short  period 
pastor  of  a  church  at  Salem.  He  died  in  1717,  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-five  years. 

*  The  orthography  of  this  name,  like  that  of  many  others,  seems  to  have 
varied  at  different  periods,  both  in  England  and  America;  our  author  after 
his  visit  to  England  wrote  it  Curwen. 


10  INTRODUCTORY      MEMOIR. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  1715,  and  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1735 ;  he  subsequently  pursued  the  usual 
course  of  preparatory  studies  for  the  church,  but  his  health  prov 
ing  inadequate  to  the  labours  of  the  profession,  he  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  the  design.  Disappointment  in  an  affair  of  the  heart 
induced  him  to  travel  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  and  the 
following  letter  to  his  only  brother,  then  temporarily  absent, 
shows  the  melancholy  state  of  his  mind  at  that  time. 

TO  GEORGE  CURW1N. 

Salem,  16th  July,  1738.     Sunday  evening. 
DEAR  GEORGE  : 

It  will  no  doubt  be  somewhat  surprising  and  unexpected  to  hear 
of  my  being  gone,  especially  at  such  a  time  as  this,  the  reason  of 
which  may  not  perhaps  be  so  proper  to  tell  you  by  letter ;  but  if  I 
could  have  had  the  happiness  of  informing  you  more  fully  in  person, 
I  should  have  done  so.  Besides  the  extreme  hurry  and  other  con 
curring  circumstances  forbid  it.  Had  I  not  engaged  too  far  to 
retreat,  I  know  not  whether  the  various  rumours  spread  abroad  had 
not  stopped  me.  Yet  extremities,  you  know,  often  dispose  one  to 
that  which  otherwise  would  not  have  been  undertaken.  To  say 
no  more,  I  am  gone,  and  God  alone,  the  sovereign  disposer  of  all 
things,  knows  the  issue ;  no  human  prudence  is  equal  to  the  uncer 
tainty  of  events. 

I  have  to  request  you  never  to  credit  the  least  report  or  give  ear 
to  what  people  say  concerning  me,  (censure  now-a-days  being  the 
delight  as  well  as  the  chiefest  quality  of  the  generality  of  mankind,) 
as  my  affairs  are  not  understood  by  any  one.  Show  Madam 
Lynde  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Lynde  all  imaginable  respect ;  they 
have  expressed  much  greater  good  will  than  any  one  else,  therefore 
omit  no  opportunity  of  thanks  to  them  and  Mr.  William  Lynde, 
who  has  undertaken  a  great  service  for  me.  Let  not  any  former 
misunderstandings  hinder  your  freely  conversing  together ;  it  will, 
I  can  assure  you,  be  your  fault  alone  if  it  doth  ;  the  business  he  has 
undertaken  will  necessarily  lead  to  it,  and  I  hope  I  have  not  chosen 
a  person  disagreeable  to  you. 

My  will  is  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Lynde,  which  I  have 


INTRODUCTORY      MEMOIR.  11 

made  to  secure  the  honor  of  the  family,  and  if  possible  to  maintain 
them  in  some  repute  in  case  of  your  death ; — may  God  long  pre 
serve  you.  My  dealings  with  sundry  persons  have  more  fully  than 
ever  confirmed  me  in  the  maxim  to  treat  all  persons  as  if  they  were 
dishonest;  I  mean  no  more  than  not  to  rely  too  much  on  their  faith 
and  honor;  too  much  good  nature  in  common  dealings  is  no  pro 
fitable  principle  now-a-days.  Nor  do  I  know  whether  it  be  a 
breach  of  Christian  charity  to  suppose  our  New  Englanders  such; 
there  is  most  certainly  a  contracted  selfish  temper  in  most  per 
sons,  which  almost  inclines  one  to  think  that  justice  and  honor 
in  their  full  latitude  are  little  understood. 

The  time  of  my  stay  abroad,  if  there  happens  no  \var,  is  uncer 
tain,  (although  I  am  not  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  gratify  my 
curiosity  by  travelling ;)  it  may  in  that  case  be  eight  months,  perhaps 
much  longer ;  otherwise  I  shall  return  in  the  same  vessel. 
I  am,  dear  George,  in  all  respects, 

Your  most  affectionate  brother, 

S.  CURWEN. 

On  his  return,  Mr.  Curwen  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  with 
uprightness  and  success.  His  business  was  subsequently  interrupted 
by  the  depredations  of  French  cruisers,  fitted  out  from  Louisburg  in 
the  island  of  Cape  Breton.  New  England  suffered  immensely  in 
her  commerce  from  the  same  cause,  and  her  enterprising  people 
resolved  upon  the  reduction  of  that  stronghold  of  the  enemy  at  all 
hazards.  Accordingly,  we  find  what  was  generally  considered  a 
romantic  expedition  set  on  foot  for  this  purpose  in  the  winter  of 
1744-5 ;  and  Mr.  Curwen  as  a  captain,  and  his  brother  as  a  com 
missary,  joined  it.  The  command  of  this  expedition,  comprising 
some  four  thousand  New  England  militia,  was  given  to  General 
Pepperell,*  who  having  suffered  largely  from  the  depredations  of 
French  cruisers,  advanced  several  thousand  pounds  towards  the 
outfit. 

The  result  of  the  expedition  was  completely  successful,  and 
reflected  great  credit  on  the  participators  in  it.  The  General  was 


*  See  Supplement  for  biographical  notices  of  Sir  William  Pepperell    and 
other  conspicuous  persons  whose  names  occur  in  this  work. 


12  INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR. 

created  a  baronet  of  Great  Britain,  an  honor  never  before  conferred 
on  a  native  of  the  North  American  provinces. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  Mr.  Curwen's  journal  kept 
during  the  campaign. 

"  Boston,  March  23,  1745.  The  General  is  embarking,  and 
we  shall  sail  this  afternoon.— Commodore  Warren  is  coming  to 
our  assistance,  which  with  the  blessing  of  God  will  be  of  great 
advantage. — There  will  go  down  in  the  first  embarkation  at  least 
twenty-five  hundred  soldiers. 

Sheepscot,  March  27.  We  have  in  our  mess  Mr.  Walter,* 
our  chaplain,  who  is  a  very  pleasant  companion. — I  dined  to-day 
on  board  of  Capt.  Grant,  who  to-morrow  with  Capt.  King  will 
breakfast  with  me. — Our  troops  were  landed  at  Chapeaurouge  on 
the  29th  March. 

Canso,  April  17.  Wrote  home  for  provisions  and  stores  to  be 
sent  in  case  the  goods  I  expect  shall  arrive  safe  from  England. — 
We  are  almost  reduced  to  pork  and  pease. 

Our  men-of-war  and  privateers  are  stationed  all  round  the 
Island  to  prevent  vessels  going  in  or  coming  out.  This  evening  an 
other  prize  arrived,  taken  by  Capt.  Donahue,  in  the  Swan  of  Mar- 
blehead,  who  behaved  very  bravely.  The  prize  had  captured  the 
packet  sent  from  Boston  to  Cansof  to  notify  us  that  Commodore 
Warren  was  coming  to  our  assistance,  which  heightens  our 
spirits. 

Canso,  April  22.  Capt.  Durell  is  come  in  this  afternoon  to 
our  assistance  ;  as  yet  we  have  no  news  of  Commodore  WTarren  ; 
hope  it  will  not  be  long  before  he  arrives  with  an  account  of  the 
French  men-of-war  expected.  Our  last  transport  arrived  this  af 
ternoon  ;  we  had  almost  given  her  up. 

I  believe  our  campaign  will  be  short,  and  expect  the  place  will 
surrender  without  bloodshed. 

Last  night  our  chaplain  and  doctor  went  with  two  companies 

#  Son  of  Rev.  Nath.  Walter  of  Roxbury  ;  his  son  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Walter,  a  proscribed  refugee,  became  Dean  of  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  re 
turned  to  Boston  in  1792  as  rector  of  Christ  Church,  and  died  1800,  M.  64. 
He  married  a  daughter  of  Ch.  Justice  Lynde. 

t  Canso  or  Canseau  was  taken  by  the  French  and  Indians,  the  houses 
were  burnt  and  fisheries  destroyed,  the  garrison  and  inhabitants  made  pris 
oners,  and  sent  to  Louisburg. 


INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR.  13 

to  attack  St.  Peter's,  and  we  are  momently  looking  for  their  return. 
I  long  to  be  once  within  the  walls  of  Louisburg.  This  is  the 
strangest  country  I  ever  knew  ;  not  two  fair  days  together. 

Canso,  April  27.  The  Connecticut  fleet  arrived,  and  Col. 
Lathrop  handed  me  my  letter.  The  scheme  of  attacking  Louis- 
burg  is  altered  every  day. 

Commodore  Warren  has  arrived.  I  trust  the  expedition  will 
prove  successful,  and  that  our  friends  will  remember  we  are  going 
against  our  common  enemy.  May  1st,  a  small  party  went  to  the 
harbour  and  burned  a  small  quantity  of  wine,  brandy,  and  naval  stores. 

Camp  before  Louisburg,  May  6.  We  have  got  possession  of 
the  Grand  Battery;  the  French  departed  from  it  three  days  ago ; 
they  spiked  all  the  guns,  but  we  have  got  seven  of  them  clear,  and 
five  of  them  are  continually  playing  upon  the  town.  Our  soldiers 
are  all  in  good  heart,  and  I  doubt  not  in  a  few  days  we  shall  have 
the  town.  We  have  taken  a  great  number  of  prisoners. 

Commodore  WTarren  this  day  came  ashore  to  visit  the  General : 
he  and  all  our  officers  have  a  good  understanding  among  them 
selves. 

Yesterday  a  gun  at  the  Grand  Battery  split  and  wounded  five 
of  our  men.  They  now  and  then  throw  a  bomb,  but  do  no  damage. 

This  morning  came  in  Col.  Moulton  with  his  detachment  from 
St.  Peter's,  which  they  have  demolished  with  the  loss  of  but  one 
man.  Providence  has  signally  smiled,  and  I  doubt  not  the  cam 
paign  will  be  crowned  with  success.  I  am  willing  to  undergo 
any  thing  for  the  good  of  our  cause. 

Camp  before  Louisburg,  May  12,  1745.  Commodore  War 
ren  has  had  two  hundred  marines  and  sailors  ashore  for  three  clays 
past  in  order  to  attack  the  Island  battery,  but  something  or  other 
has  always  prevented  its  accomplishment,  so  the  Commodore  has 
ordered  them  all  aboard  and  gone  onboard  himself  not  a  little  dis 
satisfied. 

Camp  before  Louisburg,  May  26.  Commodore  W7arren  has 
taken  the  Vigilante,  a  64  gun  ship  from  France,  coming  with  am 
munition  for  this  garrison.  She  was  manned  with  five  hundred 
men,  had  five  hundred  barrels  gunpowder  on  board:  she  lost 
thirty  men  before  she  struck.  The  command  of  her  is  given  to 
Captain  Douglass,  who  before  had  the  Mermaid,  and  Capt  Mon- 


14  INTRODUCTORY      MEMOIR. 

tague  is  to  have  the  Mermaid.     This  has  given  new  life  to  all  our 

officers  and  soldiers. 

Capt.  Gayton  is  safely  arrived  at  last,  which  affords  great  joy, 
for  we  almost  despaired  of  him,  being  out  so  long  after  all  the 
transports  had  arrived  that  left  under  bis  convoy. 

Capt.  Fletcher  has  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  ten  men  by  the 
Indians;  seven  killed,  and  three  taken  prisoners.  They  went 
ashore  ten  miles  above  where  we  lay  to  get  wood,  and  keeping  no 
guard,  were  beset  by  the  Indians  and  cut  off. 

Camp  before  Louisburg,  June  2d.  We  have  made  an  attempt 
upon  the  Island  battery,  and  failed.  Abbot,  a  townsman  of  mine, 
was  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  I  fear  he  will  lose  his  life. — An  hun 
dred  men  are  missing,  and  we  are  in  hopes  they  are  taken,  as  two 
boats  laden  with  men  were  seen  going  into  the  town  after  the 
attack,  when  the  French  gave  three  hurrahs.  Young  Gray  is 
dead,  and  three  of  Capt.  Grant's  men  are  missing,  all  of  Salem. 
Our  scouts  have  had  an  engagement  with  a  number  of  French  and 
Indians  which  we  routed  ;  killed  thirty  and  wounded  forty ;  we 
lost  but  six  killed  ;  among  them  is  the  brave  Capt.  Dimmock,  of 
Barnstable,  and  twenty  wounded,  some  very  dangerously.  Our 
men  got  under  the  very  walls  before  the  French  fired  a  gun. 

Louisburg,  June  17th,  1745.  The  Governor,  aware  of  our 
preparations  for  a  general  assault,  thought  it  best  to  capitulate,  and 
has  just  surrendered  the  city  to  our  arms. 

Louisburg,  July  25th,  1745.  An  East  India  ship,  worth  at 
least  <£200,000  sterling,  came  off  the  harbour,  and  fired  a  gun  for 
a  pilot.  The  Commodore  sent  out  two  sixty  gun  ships,  which 
came  up  with,  and  took  her  in  three  hours ;  we  had  the  pleasure 
from  the  walls  to  see  her  strike  to  them.  Two  others,  sent  out 
three  weeks  before  her,  bound  hither,  are  hourly  expected  to  heave 
in  sight.  Col.  Graham  goes  to-morrow  in  a  sloop  as  a  flag  of 
truce  for  Canada,  with  about  thirty  French  prisoners ;  he  is  the 
only  Englishman  that  goes  in  her. 

I  am  going  on  board  Capt.  Lovett  to  St.  Peter's,  with  a 
number  of  my  soldiers,  to  guard  the  wood-vessels  going  there :  our 
affairs  will  soon  be  settled,  and  I  shall,  to  my  great  joy,  return 
home." 


INTRODUCTORY      MEMOIR,  15 

FROM  WILLIAM  LYNDE. 

Salem,  July  27,  1745. 
CAPT.  CURWEN: 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  but  one  letter  from  you  since  you 
left  us. — If  no  more  East  Indiamen,  &c.  drop  in,  yet  a  line  on  any 
occasion  will  be  very  agreeable.  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  of  the 
event  of  these  ships  being  at  Louisburg,  and  what  effect  their 
coming  will  have  on  the  fleet,  army,  New  England,  the  nation, 
or  any  particulars  of  them,  or  concerning  Louisburg ;  the  French 
fishery,  settlements  on  the  island,  &c.,  if  not  too  troublesome  to  you. 

I  hope  New  England  will  be  the  happier  for  the  event  of  the 
expedition,  which  is  known  to  have  been  too  bold  a  stroke  for  your 
enemy — how  it  will  turn  out  is  doubtful,  since  many  are  competi 
tors  for  the  honor.  We  here  assure  ourselves  of  the  Governor's 
good  designs  and  influence  on  our  part.  I  could  say  more  than 
write  on  this  article,  and  cannot  but  be  sanguine  for  the  honor  of 
our  country  and  friends,  whose  all  was  involved  in  the  happy  issue 
of  the  expedition.  We  hope  daily  to  hear  of  the  Governor's  arri 
val  and  good  measures  for  the  general  advantage.  The  fleet 
assume  their  full  share,  from  all  accounts,  and  have  much  popu 
larity  ashore ;  doubt  not  of  the  influence  of  omnipotent  gold,  which 
perhaps  they  have  a  greater  share  of,  than  of  honor  or  jurisdic 
tion  on  land.  How  you  stand  inclined  yourself,  I  know  not, 
though  don't  doubt  your  zeal  for  our  country  and  friends. 

As  to  occurrences  at  Salem  ;  trade  has  been  successful,  and  no 
losses ; — if  the  Dutch  break  this  year,  you  know  how  it  will  affect. 
We  hear  from  New-York  and  via  Lisbon  of  some  five  French 
men-of-war,  designing  for  Cape  Breton ;  perhaps  to  convoy  the 
Indiamen.  Undoubtedly  you  may  expect  some  via  Lisbon  advices  ; 
they  say  Genoa  has  declared  for  the  French  and  Spaniards.  From 
New-York  they  say  the  Duke  of  Tuscany  is  Emperor,  but  it  is 
doubted  here.  I  believe  there  is  matter  enough  in  Europe  for  a 
long  war  ;  but  perhaps  you  have  later  news  than  we.  Our  gov 
ernment  has  declared  war  against  the  Penobscot  Indians,  who  have 
broke  in  on  our  new  settlements ;  so  that  we  are  at  war  with  all 
eastern  Indians ;  they  are  doubtless  put  on  by  the  French  of  Canada. 
New  England  has  enough  on  her  hands,  though  the  season  is 
hopeful  and  trade  brisk.  Some  particulars  I  could  give  verbatim , 


16  INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR. 

which  I  cannot  write ;  hope  to  see  you  soon  here,  and  spend  some 
pleasant  hours  with  you,  as  we  have  spent  many  past.  Give  my 
hearty  service  to  your  brother  and  Capt.  Grant.  My  brother*  de 
sires  you  would  excuse  his  not  writing  by  this  opportunity.  Capt. 
Hillyer  is  now  going  to  sail,  having  given  but  short  notice. 
Believe  me,  dear  Sir,  your  real  friend,  WILLIAM  LYNDE. 

A  late  writer  thus  describes'this  expedition,  which  is  among  the 
most  remarkable  in  our  history — "  The  French  had  built  a  city  and 
fortress  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  at  immense  cost,  and  of 
immense  strength,  which  in  honor  of  the  King  was  called  "  Louis- 
burg."  Their  fisheries  in  the  seas  in  its  vicinity  (as  was  ascer 
tained  by  Mr.  Kilby,  as  agent  of  Governor  Shirley,  of  Massachu 
setts),  produced  one  million  and  four  hundred  thousand  quintals 
annually,  and  they  annoyed  the  colonial  fishermen  so  much,  that 
the  fishing  interest  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  resolved  on 
the  destruction  of  Louisburg,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from 
the  fishing  grounds.  Application  was  made  to  Gov.  Shirley  ac 
cordingly,  by  Vaughan,  a  son  of  the  Lt.  Governor  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  who  was  largely  interested  in  the  fisheries,  and  whose  fisher 
men  had  imparted  to  him  valuable  information  as  to  the  weak 
parts  of  its  defences.  The  subject  was  considered  in  secret  session, 
the  first  ever  held  in  the  Colonies.  After  much  difficulty,  and  after 
having  been  negatived  once,  it  was  resolved  to  undertake  the  des 
truction  of  this  wonderful  city.  But  the  Colonies  south  of  New 
England  declined  to  aid  in  so  mad  an  enterprise,  though  urged  to 
do  so  ;  and  Dr.  Franklin,  as  if  forgetting  that  he  *  was  Boston  born,' 
ridiculed  the  project,  in  one  of  the  wittiest  letters  that  he  ever 
wrote.  The  spirit  of  New  England  was  up.  A  feeling  something 
like  that  which  caused  the  Crusades,  prevailed  among  her  people, 
high  and  low.  Religion  shouted  "  Popery" — and  even  White- 
field  made  a  recruiting  house  of  the  sanctuary  ;  and  he  not  only 
preached  delenda  est  Carthago,  but  one  of  his  followers  actually 
joined  the  troop  as  chaplain,  and  carried  an  axe  at  the  shoulder, 
with  which  to  hew  down  the  Catholic  images  in  the  churches  of 
the  fated  city.  On  sailing,  the  troops  were  furnished  with  line 
and  other  gear  to  catch  fish  on  the  passage.  The  original  plan  of 

*  Benjamin  Lynde,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  Sup.  Court, 


INTRODUCTORY   MEMOIR,  17 

attack  was  not  observed,  but  to  the  surprise  of  all,  the  city  fell,  and 
Pepperell  was  rewarded  most  magnificently,  while  Vaughan,  who 
claimed  to  have  conceived  its  destruction,  and  who  certainly  did 
much  to  effect  it,  and  wras  second  in  command  and  performed  ex 
traordinary  feats  of  valor  before  it,  was  suffered  to  die  neglected, 
though  he  went  to  London  in  person  to  press  his  claims.  At  the 
peace  of  1749,  Louisburg  was  restored  to  France,  much  to  the 
displeasure  of  New  England.  In  the  war  with  France,  which 
preceded  the  Revolution  by  about  twenty  years,  it  was  captured 
a  second  time,  and  miners  were  sent  from  England  to  reduce  its 
walls  to  rubbish.  In  its  second  capture,  Wolfe  distinguished  him 
self  much.  He  sailed  from  this  doomed  city  for  Quebec,  at  the 
head  of  8000  men,  to  rise  from  a  sick  bed,  and  {  die  satisfied'  on 
the  plains  which  his  name  has  made  immortal.  Louisburg  is  now 
desolate.  Its  walls  were  built  of  bricks  brought  from  France. 
Twenty-five  years  and  *  thirty  millions  of  livres  were  spent  in 
building  it.  It  had  nunneries,  and  palaces,  and  two  hundred  and 
six  cannon  were  mounted  to  perpetuate  French  dominion  over  it. 
Six  thousand  troops  garrisoned  its  fortress,  and  a  fleet  of  ships  of 
the  line  and  frigates  were  moored  in  its  waters.  But  yet,  though 
all  called  it  the  "  Dunkirk"  of  America,  because  of  its  exceeding 
strength,  it  fell — and  now  it  is  almost  unknown  that  such  a  place 
existed.  Its  captors,  by  keeping  the  flag  of  France  in  its  place, 
after  they  became  its  masters,  decoyed  and  captured  ships  and 
cargoes  worth  some  millions  of  dollars,  but  now,  none  but  fishermen 
visit  it,  and  they  for  shelter  and  not  for  traffick. — That  such  a  city 
existed  at  so  early  a  period  in  our  history,  is  a  marvel ;  that  such  a 
city  yielded  to  the  farmers  and  fishermen  of  New  England,  is  al 
most  incredible.  The  lovers  of  the  wonderful  may  read  the  works 
which  contain  accounts  of  its  rise  and  ruin,  and  be  satisfied  that 
'  truth  is  sometimes  stranger  than  fiction.' 

"  The  influence  of  the  expedition  to  Louisburg  has  been  felt  ever 
since.  When,  thirty  years  after  it,  the  northern  colonies  became 
embroiled  with  the  mother  country,  many  of  those  who  belonged 
to  it  were  still  alive.  The  confidence  which  their  skill  and  success 
inspired  was  incalculable.— When  Gen.  Gage  was  fortifying 
Boston  neck,  the  American  people,  whose  curiosity  led  them  to 
watch  the  progress  of  the  works,  used  to  say  that  '  Gage's  mud 

3 


18  INTRODUCTORY   MEMOIR . 

walls  are  nothing  to  old  Louisburg's.'  '  The  drum  that  beat 
along  the  road  to  Lexington,'  said  Edward  Everett,  '  had  been  at 
Louisburg.'  This  is  literally  true.  Gridley,  who  had  laid  out  the 
works  on  Breed's  or  Bunker  Hill,  on  the  night  previous  to  the 
memorable  17th  of  June,  was  the  engineer  of  the  colonial  forces 
at  the  siege  of  Louisburg, — and  many  who  rose  to  distinction  in  the 
Revolution,  were  associated  with  him  in  the  same  perilous  enter 
prise.  In  truth,  the  biographers  and  letters  of  the  men  of  the 
Revolution,  teem  with  incidents  and  allusions  to  this, — the  great 
event  of  colonial  history." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Curwen's  return  from  the  reduction  of  Louisburg 
he  resumed  his  mercantile  pursuits,  which  were  continued  for  many 
years  with  various  success,  yet  he  never  failed  in  meeting  all  his 
engagements. — In  1759  he  was  appointed  Impost  Officer  for  Essex 
county,  which  office  he  filled  for  fifteen  years,  his  commission  being 
renewed  at  intervals  of  three  years  during  that  period. 

He  was  a  member  of  a  club  instituted  for  improvement  in  phi 
losophy  and  literature  in  his  native  town,  in  which  originated  the 
Social  Library  in  1760,  and  the  Philosophical  Library,  which  were 
afterwards  united,  and  became  the  foundation  of  the  Athenceum,  in 
1810.  The  meetings  of  this  club  were  interrupted  by  the  Revolution, 
but  were  resumed  and  continued  many  years  afterwards.  Among 
the  members  were  Dr.  Holyoke,  who  was  president  of  several  lite 
rary  and  scientific  societies,  and  died  at  the  age  of  a  hundred  years 
and  six  months,  in  1829;  and  who  with  the  Hon.  Samson  S.  Blowers, 
Chief  Justice  of  Nova  Scotia,  now  living,  are  the  only  alumni 
of  Harvard  University  out  of  thirty-six  hundred  graduates,  that 
have  arrived  at  that  great  age ;  Hon.  Benjamin  Lynde  and  Hon. 
Nathaniel  Ropes,  judges  of  the  superior  court;  Hon.  Andrew 
Oliver,  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  ;  William  Pynchon,  Esq., 
an  eminent  lawyer;  Rev.  Wm.  McGilchrist  and  Rev.  Thomas 
Barnard  ;  Stephen  Higginson,  Esq.,  an  eminent  merchant,  who  af 
terwards  removed  to  Boston ;  Hon.  Wm.  Browne,  judge  of  the 
superior  court,  afterwards  Governor  of  Bermuda ;  Col.  Benjamin 
Pickman,  Col.  Peter  Frye,  and  Thomas  Robie,  Esq.  These  gentle 
men  possessed  literary  attainments  of  a  high  order,  and  though  ar 
dently  attached  to  their  country,  took  different  views  of  its  interests. 


INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR.  19 

The  four  last,  together  with  Mr.  Curwen,  in  consequence  of  the 
spirit  of  persecution  which  succeeded  the  battle  of  Lexington,  fear 
ing  that  the  high-toned  conduct  of  the  people  would  bring  ruin  on 
their  country,  became  loyalist  refugees,  and  retreated  to  England. 
A  brief  account  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  colony  of  Massachu 
setts  at  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  Revolution,  may  serve 
as  an  appropriate  introduction  to  the  parties  and  events  referred  to 
in  the  following  pages. 

We  find  at  the  commencement  of  Governor  Bernard's  adminis 
tration  in  Massachusetts,  in  1760,  the  h'rial  reduction  of  the  Canadas 
causing  a  general  jubilee  throughout  the  continent;  for  the  colo 
nists  had  only  suffered  from  their  French  and  Indian  neighbors,  and 
these  being  at  length  completely  subdued,  they  felt  that  they  could 
now  sit  under  their  own  vines  and  fig-trees,  having  none  to  molest 
or  to  make  them  afraid.  They  had  felt  the  burden  of  government 
less  than  any  people  who  had  received  such  benefits  from  it ;  and  it 
was  a  common  aspiration  in  the  public  prayers  of  the  day,  that  the 
civil  and  religious  privileges  they  enjoyed  might  be  transmitted  to 
their  posterity  forever.  In  1763,  Mr.  James  Otis,  (afterwards  the 
great  leader  of  opposition  to  Gov.  Bernard's  measures,)  in  his  ad 
dress,  as  moderator  of  the  first  town-meeting  at  Boston  after  the 
peace,  remarked,  that  "  no  other  constitution  of  civil  government 
had  yet  appeared  in  the  world  so  admirably  adapted  to  the  preser 
vation  of  the  great  purposes  of  liberty  and  knowledge  as  that  of 
Great  Britain.  Every  person  in  America  is  of  common  right,  by 
acts  of  Parliament,  and  the  laws  of  God,  entitled  to  all  the  essential 
privileges  of  Britons.  The  true  interests  of  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies  are  mutual,  and  what  God  in  his  providence  has  united,  let 
no  man  dare  attempt  to  pull  asunder." 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  cause  for  dissatisfac 
tion  in  the  colonies  at  that  period,  and  there  was  no  complaint  of 
the  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  people  by  any  of  the  gov 
ernments.  Soon,  however,  the  disturbances  in  England  reached 
America,  and  the  cry  of  "  Wilkes  and  liberty"  in  London  was 
echoed  in  Boston,  and  resounded  through  the  colonies. 

Accounts  were  received  before  the  session  of  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts  in  1764,  that  a  bill  had  passed  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  imposing  duties  on  articles  heretofore  exempted,  which  af- 


20  INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR. 

forded  a  good  opportunity  to  bring  the  officers  of  the  crown  into 
disrepute,  should  they  attempt  to  carry  the  law  into  effect.  All 
who  were  desirous  of  keeping  up  the  authority  of  law,  were  branded 
with  the  name  of  tories ;  their  characters  were  assailed  in  the  news 
papers,  and  they  were  charged  with  promoting  measures  to  restrict 
the  natural  and  chartered  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people.  The 
law  was  attacked  by  Mr.  Otis  in  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  asks  this 
question :  "  If  taxes  are  laid  in  any  shape  without  our  having  a 
legal  representative  where  they  are  made,  are  we  not  reduced  from 
the  character  of  subjects  to  the  miserable  state  of  tributary  slaves  ?" 
He  allows  the  right  of  parliament  to  tax  the  colonies,  provided  they 
are  represented ;  and  had  not  the  colonists  soon  after  declared 
against  it,  this  privilege  would  probably  have  been  conceded  ;  for 
Mr.  Grenville  and  many  influential  members  of  the  government, 
acknowledged  themselves  in  favor  of  the  measure.  On  ihe  passage 
of  the  stamp-act,  there  appeared  a  general  determination  to  oppose 
it  throughout  the  colonies,  and  Mr.  Andrew  Oliver,  afterwards 
Lieutenant  Governor,  having  been  appointed  distributor  of  the 
stamps  for  Massachusetts,  a  mob  attacked  and  destroyed  a  building 
lately  erected  by  him,  as  was  supposed  for  a  stamp-office ;  on  which 
he  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  resign,  and  never  to  act  in  that 
capacity.  Lieut.  Governor  Hutchinson's  house  was  the  next  eve 
ning  attacked,  with  little  damage  ;  but  on  the  26th  August,  1765, 
his  windows  and  doors  were  burst  in,  and  every  article  of  furniture 
and  property  that  it  contained,  destroyed,  to  the  amount  of  twenty- 
four  hundred  pounds  sterling,  besides  a  great  mass  of  public  and 
private  papers  of  inestimable  value.  From  this  time  governmental 
power  ceased  in  Boston.  Smuggling  had  been  extensively  carried 
on  at  that  port  for  years.  In  1766  exertions  were  made  on 
the  part  of  government  to  prevent  this  illegal  traffick  by  prose 
cuting  the  parties  concerned,  which  induced  the  most  abusive 
and  licentious  attacks  on  the  governor  and  all  the  officers  of  the 
crown.  False  and  groundless  as  these  charges  were,  they  gained 
too  ready  a  credence  with  the  people,  as  they  were  directed  against 
their  rulers.  At  length,  however,  Mr.  Sewall  (afterwards  attorney- 
general),  in  a  series  of  papers  signed  Philanthropos,  refuted  the 
charges,  and  silenced  the  calumniators. 

The  stamp-act  was  repealed,  and  the  duty  on  molasses  reduced 


INTRODUCTORY   MEMOIR.  21 

from  3d.  to  one  penny  per  gallon;  and  for  a  short  time,  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1766,  the  colonies  reposed  in  tranquillity.  This 
calm  was,  however,  interrupted  the  next  year  by  the  refusal  of  the 
Assembly  of  New  York  to  submit  to  parliamentary  authority,  by 
making  provision  for  quartering  the  king's  troops.  In  1768,  the 
Governor  laid  before  the  assembly  of  Massachusetts  a  letter  from 
Lord  Hillsborough,  secretary  of  state,  directing  him  to  dissolve  the 
same  unless  an  obnoxious  vote,  passed  in  February,  should  be  re 
scinded  ;  and  this  being  refused  by  a  vote  of  92  to  17,  the  minority 
were  ever  after  reproachfully  termed  "  rcscinders."  In  April,  1769, 
Governor  Bernard  received  orders  to  embark  for  England ;  and 
on  his  arrival,  his  conduct  having  met  the  approbation  of  the  ad 
ministration,  he  was  created  a  baronet.  He  had  been  treated 
with  great  bitterness  here,  which  however  was  owing  in  part  to 
certain  of  his  letters  to  England,  in  which  he  infers  the  necessity 
of  the  king's  appointing  a  royal  council  instead  of  that  elected  by 
the  people,  and  recommends  an  act  to  authorize  the  king  to  super 
sede  all  commissions  which  had  been  issued  to  improper  (i.  e.  dis 
affected)  persons.  The  destruction  of  the  East  India  Company's 
tea  at  Boston  in  1773,  only  was  wanting  by  their  leaders  to  involve 
the  body  of  the  people  in  the  same  circumstances  in  which  their 
course  of  opposition  measures  had  placed  them. 

The  leading  principles  of  the  Revolution,  viz.,  a  denial  of  the. 
right  of  taxation  by  Parliament,  a  claim  of  the  privilege  of  juries  in 
admiralty  courts,  and  the  right  of  trial  only  in  places  where  offences 
are  committed,  should  have  been  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  broad 
basis  of  their  respective  merits.  Private  letters,  surreptitiously  ob 
tained  in  England,  written  by  Governor  Hutchinson  and  Lieut. 
Governor  Oliver,  (whose  spotless  lives,  devoted,  as  they  believed, 
to  the  best  interests  of  their  fellow  men,  had  acquired  for  them  an 
almost  unbounded  influence,)  were  announced  with  great  pomp 
and  circumstance  by  legislative  resolves;  and  garbled  extracts  were 
circulated,  and  unjust  inferences  drawn,  before  the  letters  themselves 
were  permitted  to  be  printed,  which  would  have  proved  a  sufficient 
antidote  to  the  poison  so  invidiously  diffused. — The  distemper,  how 
ever,  was  much  arrested  by  a  series  of  papers  under  the  signature 
Philolcthes,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Sewall,  developing  the  disguised 
craft  and  fallacies  which  pervaded  this  deep  contrivance,  and  written 


22  INTRODUCTORYMEMOIR. 

with  such  moderation  and  candour  that  the  calumniators  thought 
it  best  to  leave  these  pieces  unanswered,  and  suffer  the  flame  to 
die  away,  intending  to  keep  (he  embers  in  reserve  for  raising  a  new 
flame  at  a  more  propitious  time  for  their  purposes. — Governor 
Hutchinson*  had  represented  the  transaction  of  the  5th  of  March 
1770  (commonly  called  the  Boston  massacre),  in  his  letters  to  the 
secretary  of  state,  far  more  favourably  for  the  town  than  the  evi 
dence  at  the  trial  afterwards  warranted,  yet  the  Assembly  consider 
ed  him  as  inimical  to  the  province  for  conforming  to  his  instructions, 
and  withstanding  their  attempts  to  compel  him  to  yield  the  prerog 
ative  of  the  crown ;  and  the  council  instead  of  supporting  him 
sided  with  the  House.  The  designs  of  particular  persons  to  bring 
about  a  revolution  and  attain  independency,  were  apparent  to  the 
Governor,  but  he  did  not  think  it  possible  that  the  people  would  be 
induced  to  declare  for  it. 

Under  the  discouragements  of  the  times  Governor  Hutchinson 
determined  to  visit  England,  and  have  at  least  a  temporary  relief; 
but  before  he  received  an  answer  to  his  request,  his  able  and 
estimable  coadjutor,  Lieut.  Governor  Oliver,*  succumbed  to  the 
unwarranted  attacks  upon  him,  and  fell  a  victim  to  wounded  sensi 
bility  on  the  3d  of  March,  1774. 

In  a  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  granting  Gov.  Hutchin- 
son's  wished-for  permission  to  visit  England,  dated  April  9,  1774, 
he  says :  "  It  is  impossible  you  can  have  any  doubt  of  the  light  in 
which  your  conduct  on  the  late  trying  occasion  is  seen  by  the  king 
and  his  servants.  I  cannot  however  content  myself  without  repeat 
ing  to  you  what  cannot  fail  to  give  you  the  strongest  consolation 
and  satisfaction,  that  it  is  his  majesty's  intention  to  testify  his  appro 
bation  of  your  services  to  all  mankind  by  an  early  mark  of  his  favor.f 
This  expectation  will  contribute  much  to  alleviate  the  anxiety 
of  your  mind,  and  to  support  you  under  any  difficulties  you  may 
yet  have  to  encounter;  but  you  will  allow  me  to  say,  that  to  a 
mind  like  yours  there  are  secret  sources  of  tranquillity  that  are 
superior  to  such  great  and  encouraging  considerations.  The  con 
scious  sense  which  you  possess  of  an  upright  and  uniform  regard  to 

*  See  Supplement. 

t  A  baronetcy  was  offered  Gov.  ITntehinson  and  declined,  winch  ought 
to  satisfy  his  countrymen  of  the  uprightness  of  his  political  motives. 


INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIR.  23 

the  duty  of  your  situation,  joined  to  a  dispassionate  and  real  con 
cern  for  the  welfare  of  the  people  over  whom  you  preside,  which 
equally  appear  throughout  the  correspondence  that  1  have  had 
with  you,  do  at  this  moment,  if  I  am  not  deceived  in  my  opinion  of 
you,  supply  you  with  that  steadiness  and  fortitude  which  discover 
themselves  in  your  firm  and  temperate  conduct,  and  which  under 
such  support  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  most  unreasonable  pre 
judice,  or  even  of  the  most  inveterate  malice  to  shake  or  intimidate." 

General  Gage  having  arrived  with  po\ver  to  administer  the 
government,  Governor  Hutchinson  sailed  on  the  1st  of  June,  1774, 
for  England.  Before  his  departure  he  had  received  addresses  from 
a  hundred  and  twenty  merchants  of  Boston  ;  from  all  the  gentle 
men  of  the  law,  with  few  exceptions;  from  the  magistrates  of 
Middlesex  and  Plymouth,  and  the  principal  gentlemen  of  Salem 
and  Marblehead,  all  expressing  entire  approbation  of  his  public 
conduct  and  their  affectionate  wishes  for  his  prosperity.  These 
addresses  gave  great  offence  to  the  disaffected  portion  of  the  com 
munity,  and  many  of  those  who  signed  them,  afterwards  stigma 
tized  as  "  Addressers"  were  compelled  by  the  people  to  make 
public  recantations  in  the  newspapers.  Mr.  Curwen,  who  had 
subscribed  the  Salem  address,  declined  to  obey  the  popular  voice, 
saying  that  the  prescribed  recantation  contained  more  than  in  con 
science  he  could  own ;  and  that  as  to  live  under  the  character  of 
reproach  which  the  fury  of  party  might  throw  upon  him,  was  too 
painful  a  reflection  to  suffer  for  a  moment,  he  therefore  resolved 
to  withdraw  from  the  impending  storm.  He  accordingly  embarked 
for  Philadelphia,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1775,  and  thence  for  London 
on  the  13th  of  the  following  month. 

Mr.  Curwen  had  been  in  the  commission  of  the  peace  for  thirty 
years,  and  at  the  time  of  his  departure  was  a  Judge  of  Admiralty, 
in  which  office  he  was  immediately  succeeded  by  Timothy  Picker 
ing,  the  patriot,  who  afterwards  so  ably  filled  distinguished  offices 
in  the  army,  in  the  cabinet  of  Washington,  and  the  councils  of  our 
country.  Judge  Curwen  returned  in  the  autumn  of  1784,  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  friends,  and  was  never  molested  for  his  poli 
tical  course. 

Mr.  Curwen  was  in  early  life  married  to  a  daughter  of  Hon, 


24  INTRODUCTORY     MEMOIK. 

Daniel  Russell,  of  Charlestown,  and  a  sister  of  Hon.  Chambers  Rus 
sell,  whom  he  survived  many  years. 

He  died  in  his  native  town,  in  April,  1802,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  He  possessed  a  fine  literary  taste,  was  a 
scholar  and  a  Christian.  He  left  no  lineal  descendants;  but  in 
order  that  the  name  might  not  become  extinct  in  New  England, 
at  his  request  just  before  his  death,  a  collateral  relative  since 
deceased  assumed  it,  who  has  left  three  sons  residing  at  Salem, 
who  bear  the  name. 

Of  the  families  of  the  exiled  loyalists,  scattered  as  they  have 
been  over  the  world,  it  is  no  small  matter  to  obtain  information ; 
while  some  grace  the  peerage  and  baronetage  of  England,  of 
many  of  the  exiled  Refugees  scarce  a  descendant,  even  in  a  collateral 
branch,  is  to  be  found.  Of  the  loyalists  that  remained  to  run  the 
risk  of  the  spirit  of  the  people,  the  task  has  been  less  difficult. 

Of  nearly  two  hundred  that  were  banished  by  the  government 
of  Massachusetts,  upwards  of  sixty  were  graduates  of  Harvard  Col 
lege.  And  of  the  five  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  that  pro 
vince  at  the  commencement  of  the  difficulties,  the  Hon.  William 
Gushing  alone  was  of  patriot  principles,  who  was  afterwards  on  the 
bench  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 


JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS 


CHAPTER    I. 

Philadelphia,  May  4,  1775.  Since  the  late  unhappy  affairs  at 
Concord  and  Lexington,  finding  the  spirit  of  the  people  to  rise  on 
every  fresh  alarm,  (which  has  been  almost  hourly,)  and  their  tem 
pers  to  get  more  and  more  soured  and  malevolent  against  all  mod 
erate  men,  whom  they  see  fit  to  reproach  as  enemies  of  their 
country  by  the  name  of  tories,  among  whom  I  am  unhappily 
(although  unjustly)  ranked ;  and  unable  longer  to  bear  their  un 
deserved  reproaches  and  menaces  hourly  denounced  against 
myself  and  others,  I  think  it  a  duty  I  owe  myself  to  withdraw  for 
a  while  from  the  storm  which  to  my  foreboding  mind  is  approach 
ing.  Having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  persuade  my  wife  to  accom 
pany  me,  her  apprehensions  of  danger  from  an  incensed  soldiery, 
a  people  licentious  and  enthusiastically  mad  and  broken  loose  from 
all  the  restraints  of  law  or  religion,  being  less  terrible  to  her  than  a 
short  passage  on  the  ocean ;  and  being  moreover  encouraged  by 
her,  I  left  my  late  peaceful  home  (in  my  sixtieth  year)  in  search  of 
personal  security  and  those  rights  which  by  the  laws  of  God  I 
ought  to  have  enjoyed  undisturbed  there,  and  embarked  at  Beverly 
on  board  the  schooner  Lively.  Captain  Johnson,  bound  hither,  on 
Sunday  the  23d  ultimo,  and  have  just  arrived.  Hoping  to  find  an 
asylum  amongst  quakers  and  Dutchmen,  who  I  presume  from 
former  experience  have  too  great  a  regard  for  ease  and  property  to 
sacrifice  either  at  this  time  of  doubtful  disputation  on  the  altar  of 
an  unknown  goddess,  or  rather  doubtful  divinity. 

My  fellow-passengers  were  Andrew  Cabot,*  his  wife  and  child, 
and  Andrew  Dodge.*  My  townsman,  Benjamin  Goodhue,f  was 

*  Merchants  of  Beverly.  f  See  Supplement, 


/  n 


26  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1775. 

kind  enough  to  come  on  board,  and  having  made  my  kinsman  and 
correspondent,  Samuel  Smith,  acquainted  with  my  arrival,  he  was 
pleased  to  come  on  board  also,  and  his  first  salutation,  "  We  will 
protect  you  though  a  tory"  embarrassed  me  not  a  little ;  but  soon 
recovering  my  surprise,  we  fell  into  a  friendly  conversation,  and  he 
taking  me  to  his  house,  I  dined  with  his  family  and  their  minister, 
Mr.  Sproat,  suffering  some  mortification  in  the  cause  of  truth. 
After  an  invitation  to  make  his  house  my  home  during  my  stay 
here,  which  I  did  not  accept,  I  took  leave,  and  went  in  pursuit  of 
lodgings,  and  on  enquiring  at  several  houses,  ascertained  they  were 
full,  or  for  particular  reasons  would  not  take  me ;  and  so  many 
refused  as  made  it  fearful  whether,  like  Cain,  I  had  not  a  discour 
aging  mark  upon  me,  or  a  strong  feature  of  tory  ism.  The  whole 
city  appears  to  be  deep  in  congressional  principles,  and  inveterate 
against "  Hutchinsonian  Addressers."  Happily  we  at  length  arrived 
at  one  Mrs.  Swords',  a  widow  lady,  in  Chestnut-street,  with  whom 
I  found  quarters,  rendered  more  agreeable  by  S.  Waterhouse's  com 
pany,  who  also  lodges  here. 

May  5,  1775.  I  find  the  drums  beating,  colours  flying,  and  de 
tachments  of  newly  raised  militia  parading  the  streets  ; — the 
whole  country  appears  determined  to  assume  a  military  character,  and 
this  city,  throwing  off  her  pacific  aspect,  is  forming  military  compa 
nies,  a  plan  being  laid  for  thirty -three ;  composed  of  all  ranks  and 
nations,  uniting  shoulder  to  shoulder,  they  form  so  many  patriotic 
bands  to  oppose  like  the  invincible  Macedonian  phalanx,  the  pro 
gress  and  increase  of  parliamentary  authority.  The  Quakers,  not 
to  be  behind  in  manifesting  their  aversion,  have  obtained  permis 
sion  of  the  city  committee  to  make  up  two  companies  of  Friends 
exclusively,  and  they  are  to  be  commanded  by  Samuel  Marshall 
and  Thomas  Mifm'n,*  both  of  that  persuasion. 

So  powerful  is  the  love  of  liberty,  and  so  great  the  dread  of 
ministerial  designs,  that  the  strongest  prejudices  and  habits  have 
given  way  and  are  controlled  by  the  former. 

The  House  this  day  having  received  a  message  from  the  gover 
nor  with  Lord  North's  conciliatory  plan,  has  on  a  full  debate  re 
jected  it,  being  resolved  to  adhere  to  the  union. 

*  See  Supplement. 


1775.]  JOURNALANDLETTERS.  27 

Joseph  Lee*  hearing  I  was  in  the  city,  came  to  see  me,  and 
advised  my  going  to  London. 

May  6,  1775.  Saw  Pelatiah  Webster,!  wno  at  the  instance 
of  Mr  Goodhue  treats  me  civilly.  Having  had  several  intima 
tions  that  my  residence  here  would  be  unpleasant,  if  allowed  at  all, 
when  it  shall  be  known  that  I  am  what  is  called  "an  addresser ;" 
besides,  solicited  to  sign  "«  recantation"  which  may  contain  more 
than  in  conscience  I  can  subscribe ;  and  after  all  with  the  uncer 
tainty  whether  it  will  answer  the  purpose,  or  should  it  barely,  to 
live  and  die  under  the  character  of  reproach  and  ignominy,  which 
the  outrageous  fury  of  party  may  throw  upon  me,  is  a  reflection  too 
painful  for  a  moment  to  support.  I  have,  therefore,  consulted  the 
few  friends  I  think  it  worth  while  to  advise  with,  and  on  the  result, 
am  determined  to  proceed  to  London  in  the  vessel  in  which  I  came 
here. 

On  the  credit  of  Samuel  Smith  and  Sons,  I  have  with  their  as 
sistance  procured  flour  to  freight  a  vessel. 

May  7,  1775.— Sunday.  Went  with  Mr.  Smith  to  Arch- 
street  meeting  house ;  Mr.  Sproat  entertained  us  with  a  truly 
American  patriotic  sermon,  pathetically  lamenting  the  evils  we 
are  suffering  from  wicked  and  tyrannical  ministers ;  exhorting  us 
manfully  to  oppose  them. 

At  2  o'clock  at  the  wharf,  a  large  collection  of  people  were 
waiting  news  from  London,  Capt.  Robinson  having  just  anchored. 
The  only  news  was,  that  the  restraining  bill  respecting  New-Eng 
land,  and  the  other  respecting  the  southern  colonies,  were  passed. 

Dr.  Franklin  arrived  last  night,  which  was  announced  by  ring 
ing  of  bells  to  the  great  joy  of  the  city.  I  cannot  but  promise 
myself  some  good,  as  his  knowledge  and  experience  must  have  in 
fluence  in  the  approaching  Congress,  which  will  I  doubt  not  listen 
to  his  judgment.  He  is,  it  is  said,  to  return  to  England  again  soon, 
at  Lord  Chatham's  instance,  who  tells  him  he  must  be  on  the  spot 
at  the  opening  of  Parliament. 

May  9,  1775.  Dined  with  Stephen  Collins;  passed  the 
evening  at  Joseph  Reed's,*  in  company  with  Col.  WASHINGTON,  (a 

*  See  Supplement. 

f  In  July,  1774,  this  gentleman  directed  his  correspondent  at  Boston,  to 
pay  £10  to  the  commitee  for  the  relief  of  sufferers  by  the  Boston  Port  Bill. 


28  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1775. 

fine  figure  and  of  a  most  easy  and  agreeable  address,)  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  and  Col.  Harrison,  three  of  the  Virginia  delegates.— 
Besides  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed,  were  Mrs.  Deberdt,*  Dr.  Shipper 
and  Thomas  Smith.  I  staid  till  twelve  o'clock,  the  conversation 
being  chiefly  on  the  most  feasible  and  prudent  method  of  stopping 
up  the  channel  of  the  Delaware  to  prevent  the  coming  up  of  any 
large  ships  to  the  city;  I  could  not  perceive  the  least  disposition  to 
accommodate  matters. 

Col.  Caswell  and  Mr.  Hewes,  the  North  Carolina  delegates, 
arrived  this  day,  and  are  at  our  lodgings. 

May  10,  1775.  Early  in  the  morning  a  great  number  of  per 
sons  rode  out  several  miles,  hearing  that  the  eastern  delegates 
were  approaching,  when  about  11  o'clock  the  cavalcade  appeared, 
(I  being  near  the  upper  end  of  Fore  street ;)  first  two  or  three 
hundred  gentlemen  on  horseback,  preceded,  however,  by  the  newly- 
chosen  city  military  officers,  two  and  two,  with  drawn  swords, 
followed  by  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  in  a  phaeton  and 
pair,  the  former  looking  as  if  his  journey  and  high  living,  or  so 
licitude  to  support  the  dignity  of  the  first  man  in  Massachusetts, 
had  impaired  his  health.  Next  came  John  Adams  and  Thomas 
Cushing  in  a  single  horse  chaise ;  behind  followed  Robert  Treat 
Paine,  and  after  him  the  New  York  delegation,  and  some  from  the 
province  of  Connecticut,  etc.,  etc.  The  rear  was  brought  up  by 
a  hundred  carriages,  the  streets  crowded  with  people  of  all  ages, 
sexes  and  ranks.  The  procession  marched  with  a  slow,  solemn 
pace  ;  on  its  entrance  into  the  city  all  the  bells  were  set  to  ringing 
and  chiming,  and  every  mark  of  respect  that  could  be,  was  ex 
pressed  : — not  much  I  presume  to  the  secret  liking  of  their  fellow 
delegates  from  the  other  colonies,  who  doubtless  had  to  digest  the 
distinction  as  easily  as  they  could. 

May  11,  1775.  Col.  Caswell  was  innoculated  for  the  small 
pox.  Mr.  Lee  again  repeated  his  advice  of  my  going  to  London. 
Dined  with  J.  B.  Smith;  rode  with  him  to  his  farm  six  miles 
out.  Drank  tea  with  Mr.  Lee  and  Startin. 

May  12,  1775.     Sent  my  baggage  on  board  the  Lively — re- 

*  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Reed  and  widow  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly 
agent  to  the  British  government. 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  29 

ceived  a  letter  from  Stephen  Collins  to  Mr.  Neat  of  London — paid 
my  respects  to  Mrs.  Deberdt,  and  received  a  letter  to  her  son.  Re 
ceived  my  invoice  of  flour  from  Samuel  Smith  and  Sons.  Mr. 
Startin  presented  me  with  an  open  letter  on  Wilkinson  and  Co. 
Birmingham,  and  Mr.  Reed  and  lady  gave  me  letters  to  their  brother, 
Dennis  Deberdt,  London.  From  post  office  took  Rivington's  two 
last  newspapers,  and  received  from  the  publishers  all  the  present 
week's  Philadelphia  papers.  Messrs.  Lee  and  Webster  took  leave, 
and  with  my  fellow  passenger,  Mr.  Webster's  son  Pelatiah,  I  went 
on  board  the  Lively. 

May  16,  1775.  Spoke  Capt.  Waterman  in  a  schooner  from 
Nantucket,  who  brought  me  a  letter  from  Nathan  Goodale,  stating 
that  his  family,  Mr.  Pynchon's,  and  Mr.  Orne's,  had  arrived  there, 
to  which  I  replied. 

TO    NATHAN    GOODALE,    ESQ. 

In  the  Delaware,  May  16,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

You  can  scarce  conceive  my  joy  at  hearing  that  my  neighbours, 
suffering  in  the  same  cause  as  myself,  and  for  whom  I  sincerely 
profess  a  friendship,  were  in  a  secure  retreat.  Continue  there  by 
all  means,  safe  from  the  alarms  and  dangers  you  have  fled  from. 

Philadelphia  is  wholly  American,  strong  friends  to  congress 
ional  measures ;  at  least,  no  man  is  hardy  enough  to  express  a 
doubt  of  the  feasibility  of  their  projects.  Mr.  Joseph  Lee  leads  a 
recluse  life  there.  The  inhabitants  are  displeased  that  the  New 
Englanders  make  it  their  city  of  refuge.  The  new  established 
post  (instead  of  the  old  eastern  one  which  is  stopped,)  admits  no 
letters  to  pass  but  those  franked  ;  the  contents  of  which  must  be 
known  to  one  of  the  committee  to  be  entitled  to  that  benefit. 

Yours  truly, 

SAML.  CURWEN. 

June  1, 1775.  At  Sea.  The  Otter  sloop-of-war,  from  Boston, 
brought  us  to  at  9  o'clock,  and  informed  us  all  was  quiet  when 
she  left.  The  provincial  forces,  amounting  to  fifteen  thousand 
men,  were  waiting  the  determination  of  the  Congress ;  that  forty-five 


30  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  [1775. 

transports  with  the  three  generals,  had  arrived  there  eight  days 
ago ;  and  that  a  great  fire  happened  there,  beginning  at  the  bar 
rack  stores  on  the  docks,  and  consuming  all  from  thence  to  King- 
street.  She  detained  us  two  hours  in  order  to  send  letters  to 
England. 

July  3,  1775.  Arrived  at  Dover,  England,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M. 
Mr.  Webster  and  myself  concluded  to  take  coach  for  London 
after  visiting  the  Castle.  We  first  ascended  to  one  of  the  square 
towers,  in  height  134  steps,  from  which  in  a  clear  day  the  French 
shore  is  to  be  seen,  and  a  most  agreeable  view  into  the  country. 
The  town  of  Dover  seems  under  foot,  and  even  the  steeples  scarce 
as  high  as  the  foot  of  the  hill.  We  next  visited  Julius  Caasar's 
tower,  (said  to  have  been  built  by  him,)  old  and  in  ruins ;  on  the 
plains  of  it  is  a  battery  of  twenty  four  pounders, — one  of  brass, 
24  feet  long,  called  Queen  Elizabeth's  pocket-piece,  given  her  by 
Holland  at  the  time  of  its  emancipation  from  Spain.  It  is  curious 
ly  ornamented  with  the  arms  of  England  and  Holland ;  was  cast 
in  1544 ;  weighs  six  tons,  and  carries  a  twelve  pound  shot  seven 
miles.  The  well  is  375  feet  deep.  The  original  key  supposed  to  be 
eighteen  hundred  years  old,  is  21  inches  long,  and  weighs  three 
or  four  pounds.  We  also  saw  a  sword  of  state  five  feet  long;,  the 
handle  twelve  inches.  At  the  coffee-house  met  James  Teal,  a 
son  of  the  widow  of  the  late  Gov.  Belcher  of  Massachusetts  by  her 
first  husband.  He  wished  to  convey  intelligence  of  his  residence 
here  to  his  mother  in  New  England  ;  his  letters  have  miscarried 
for  some  time  past. 

London,  July  4.  Arrived  at  the  New  England  coffee-house, 
Threadneedle-street,  at  7  o'clock  P.  M. — July  5.  Met  my  towns 
man  and  friend  Benjamin  Pickman,  which  rejoiced  me;  we  walk 
ed  to  Westminster  Hall, — in  Chancery  saw  Sir  Thomas  Sewell, 
master  of  the  rolls,  sitting  with  his  hat  on, — at  Common  Pleas  saw 
Judge  Blackstone  and  Sergeant  Glynn ;  and  the  King's  Bench, 
Lord  Mansfield  and  Mr.  Sergeant  Wedderburne.  Lord  Mansfield's 
manner  is  like  the  late  Judge  Dudley's  of  Massachusetts.  His  peer 
ing  eyes  denote  a  penetration  and  comprehension  peculiarly  his 
own.  Mr.  Wedderburne  spoke,  but  at  no  great  length. 

July  9,  1775.  Went  to  old  Jewry  meeting-house,  where  I  met 
Gov.  Hutchinson,  his  son  and  daughter, — a  cordial  reception  and 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  31 

invitation  to  visit  him.     Mr.  Isaac  Smith  and  Mr.  Deberdt  sat  in 
the  pew  next  me. 

TO   WILLIAM  PYNCHON,    ESQ.,  SALEM. 

London,  July  7, 1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  am  glad  for  the  calm  season  at  Salem ; — could  I  have  been 
safe  on  the  same  conditions  I  find  my  friends  permitted  to  reside  at 
home,  I  would  joyfully  have  accepted  them.  However,  this  calm  I 
fear  cannot  last  long;  for  if  Congress  does  not  offer  terms  that  ad 
ministration  think  they  can  in  honour  accept,  I  have  good  grounds 
for  saying  the  most  vigorous  measures  will  be  pursued,  which  I 
fear  will  cause  the  destruction  of  my  country.  There  is  an  army 
of  New  Englanders  here.  My  old  friend  Mr.  Sayre,  a  city  banker, 
married  to  a  lady  of  fortune,  invited  me  to  dine  with  him  in  com 
pany  with  my  friend  Mr.  Deberdt. 

Let  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cabot  know  that  her  niece  Mrs.  Copley,* 
with  whom  I  dined  yesterday  at  Mr.  Bromfield's,  Islington,  is  well, 
and  expects  her  husband  on  his  passage  from  Italy. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

July  11,  1775.  Waited  upon  Governor  Hutchinson,  (in  com 
pany  with  B.  Pickman,)  for  the  first  time  ;  were  well  received,  and 
invited  to  dinner  for  Saturday. 

July  18,  1775.  Evening  to  Vauxhall  Gardens ;  fine  gravel 
led  walks,  shrubbery,  and  covered  alcoves  lighted  by  lamps,  and 
rendered  a  most  enchanting  spot.  Tables  spread  under  the  trees 
for  entertainment.  In  one  of  the  open  retreats  is  a  most  finished 
piece  of  statuary  of  Handel,  sitting  on  a  harp  in  a  loose  dress. 

July  20,  1775.  To  J.  Lane's  house  with  B.  Pickman,  passed 
the  evening  there  in  company  with  Samuel  Quincy,  Jonathan 
Sewall,  and  David  Green. 

July  21,  1775.  By  boat  from  Temple  stairs  to  Ranelagh;  a 
numerous  company  of  well  dressed  people  there,  among  them  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  and  French  ambassador. 

*  Lady  of  the  great  artist. 


32  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  [1775- 

July  22,  1775.  Spent  the  day  at  Hempsted,  in  company  with 
Isaac  Smith,  Samuel  Quincy,  David  Green,  and  P.  Webster. 

TO  REV.  THOMAS    BARNARD,  SALEM. 

London,  22d  July,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  dissipation,  self-forgetfulness,  and  vicious  indulgences  of 
every  kind,  which  characterize  this  metropolis,  are  not  to  be  won 
dered  at.  The  temptations  are  too  great,  for  that  degree  of  philo 
sophy  and  religion  ordinarily  possessed  by  the  bulk  of  mankind. 
The  unbounded  riches  of  many  afford  the  means  of  every  species  of 
luxury,  which,  (thank  God,)  our  part  of  America  is  ignorant  of, 
and  the  example  of  the  wealthy  and  great  is  contagious.  Ten 
miles  round  is  filled  with  pleasant  villas,  and  Sunday  is  allotted  to 
visiting  them.  The  congregation  at  old  Jewry  meeting-house,  re 
spectable  for  its  appearance,  did  not  exceed  a  hundred.  The 
preacher  is  called  a  Presbyterian,  and  all  of  that  denomination  here 
are  on  a  broader  and  more  liberal  plan  of  divinity  than  those  who 
go  by  the  name  of  Independents,  such  as  the  "  Pinner's  Hall  Di 
vines"  and  their  associates.  The  style  of  the  preachers  in  London 
(of  our  way)  is  more  just  and  correct  than  ours  in  New  England. 
To  my  surprise  I  saw  an  auditor  taking  notes.  Notes  for  prayer 
or  thanksgivings  are  never  read,  and  the  mention  of  such  cases  is 
deferred  to  the  last  prayer.  Admission  to  the  pews  is  by  a  female, 
who  unlocks  the  doors,  (all  having  locks ;)  strangers  are  conducted 
to  the  table  pew  in  the  centre,  where  the  sacrament  is  adminis 
tered. 

***** 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  SALEM. 

London,  25th  July,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  dropped  in  at  Guild-hall,  where  Judge  Nares  was  sitting  at  the 
City  Common  Pleas  ;  on  his  cushion  were  worked  the  city  arms, — 
and  also  on  the  Recorder's,  I  presume  to  remind  them  of  the  city 
rights.  I  was  fortunate  in  procuring  a  seat  just  behind  Sergeant 
Davy,  and  heard  as  far  as  my  imperfect  organs  (and  the  noise  and 
confusion)  would  admit.  While  he  was  opening  the  case,  he  was 
obliged  to  rise  out  of  his  seat,  step  forward  and  lean  down  to  hear, 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  33 

in  a  manner  unbecoming  the  dignity  of  a  judge.  Every  fact  of 
importance  delivered  by  a  witness  was  noted  down  by  the  judge  as 
well  as  counsel.  The  noise  was  much  greater  than  would  be  al 
lowed  in  our  American  courts. 

I  have  seen  the  Lord  Mayor  in  his  court  ;  but  this  court  seems 
more  like  a  reference  business  than  any  thing  else.  Through  un 
common  good  fortune,  I  have,  without  the  customary  delay  of  two 
or  three  weeks,  been  admitted  into  the  British  Museum,  Montague 
House,  a  truly  royal  institution  for  the  preservation  of  the  produc 
tions  of  nature  and  art.  Saw  the  first  Bible  printed  by  authority, 
on  vellum,  and  turning  to  the  91st  Psalm,  5th  verse,  instead  of 
"  Thou  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the  terrors  by  night"  etc.,  I  saw  the 
following  :  "  Thou  shall  not  fear  the  bugs  and  vermin  by  night"  etc. 
There  are  many  other  as  remarkable  differences,  but  had  not  time 
to  examine  many  texts. 

I  am  just  informed  of  a  most  melancholy  event,  the  destruction  of 
Charlestown  in  Massachusetts  by  the  king's  troops,  which  all  agree 
in ;  the  other  parts  of  the  story  are  told  differently.  Mr.  Breck 
nock  says  the  king's  troops  would  not  fight,  but  laid  down  their 
arms,  which  is  the  reason  of  the  great  carnage  among  the  officers. 
My  distress  and  anxiety  for  my  friends  and  countrymen  embitter 
every  hour.  May  it  please  God  to  inspire  men  of  influence  on 
either  side  the  Atlantic,  with  juster  sentiments  of  the  real  interest 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  than  they  seem  to  have  possessed 
hitherto.  Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  27.  Dined  at  Mr.  Sayre's,  in  company  with  four  gentle 
men  and  Lady  Francis  Sherard,  only  daughter  of  the  late  Earl 
of  Harborough ;  returned  home  in  Mr.  Sayre's  coach. 

July  28.  By  invitation  dined  at  Grocers'  Company  feast  at 
their  hall  in  the  Poultry.  A  procession  was  formed  after  dinner 
(band  playing,)  and  halted  behind  the  chair  of  the  new  elected 
master,  when  the  secretary  put  a  tiara  on  his  head ;  while  another 
officer  held  a  large  golden  cup  filled  with  wine,  drank  to  him,  and 
delivered  it ;  and  the  master  on  taking  it  drank  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  company.  The  ceremony  was  also  had  towards  the  newly- 
made  wardens. 

5 


34  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [  1775. 

July  29.  Dined  with  Governor  Hutchinson,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Joseph  Green,  Mr.  Mauduit,  and  Mr.  Ward  Nicholas  Boyl- 
ston ;  the  latter  gave  us  an  entertaining  narrative  of  his  travels 
through  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt. 

July  30.  Sunday  attended  worship  at  Dr.  Fordyce's  meeting 
house,  Monk  well- street.  He  discoursed  with  great  energy  and 
pathos,  abounding  with  flowers  of  rhetoric,  metaphor,  and  with 
uncommon  theatric  gesture,  equal  if  not  beyond  Mr.  Whitefield. 

In  the  vestry  room  is  hanging  the  original  license  from 
Charles  II.  to  Mr.  Doolittle  for  this  present  house  of  worship. 
Took  tea  with  Dr.  Fordyce,  at  Mr.  Kennedy's,  and  passed  an 
agreeable  hour  in  conversation. 

August  3.  Walked  along  Hyde  Park  wall  till  arrived  at  the 
turnpike  between  that  and  the  Green  Park;  at  the  gate  of  the 
former  stands  a  noble  house,  built  by  the  present  Lord  Chancellor 
Apsley,*  on  ground  taken  out  of  the  park,  and  given  him  by  the 
king  for  that  purpose.  Saw  their  majesties  returning  from  the 
drawing  room,  the  king  in  a  sedan  chair  surmounted  by  a  crown, 
dressed  in  very  light  cloth  with  silver  buttons ;  the  queen  carried 
by  two  porters  in  a  chair,  dressed  in  lemon-colored  flowered  silk, 
on  a  light  cream-colored  ground.  They  passed  between  two  lines, 
observed,  smiled,  and  bowed  as  they  passed. 

TO  DR.  JOHN  PRINCE,  HALIFAX. 

London,  August  4,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  presume  you  little  expected  to  hear  from  a  fellow  sufferer  in 
the  cause  of  loyalty,  a  whole  army  of  whom  are  here  lamenting 
their  own  and  their  country's  unhappy  fate.  I  heard  of  your 
escape,  and  a  circumstance  connected  with  it  that  must  render  your 
existence  more  tolerable,  viz.,  that  you  were  accompanied  by  your 
wife  and  children,  and  I  cordiallv  rejoice  in  your  and  their  deliver 
ance  from  the  evils  which  attend  our  common  friends  in  Salem, 
and  elsewhere  in  New  England.  What  melancholy  scenes  they 
and  we  are  to  go  through  before  this  unnatural  controversy  is 
ended,  God  only  knows! — May  you  and  I  be  prepared  for  the 
worst  events.  If  any  of  our  common  friends  are  in  Halifax,  be 

*  Afterwards  Earl  Bathurst. 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  35 

pleased  to  remember  me  to  them  in  the  kindest  manner.     Our  old 
friend  Ben.  Pickman  desires  to  be  remembered  to  you. 
With  much  regard,  etc., 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

August  4.  At  Mr.  Boylston's  saw  many  curiosities  he  brought 
from  Egypt,  the  Holy  Land,  etc.  Amongst  others  the  locust  in 
pods,  the  supposed  food  of  John  the  Baptist. 

Jlugust  5.  Dined  at  Gov.  Hutchinson's,  in  company  with 
Joseph  Hooper,  Benjamin  Pickman,  Joseph  Taylor,  Isaac  Smith, 
Mr.  Silsbee,  and  the  governor's  family. 

Jlugust  6.  At  Old  Jewry  meeting-house — communion  day — 
in  which  service  Governor  Hutchinson,  his  son  Elisha,  Mr.  Pick- 
man,  and  myself  participated.  The  minister  brought  the  elements, 
and  repeated  to  each  communicant  some  pertinent  expression  of 
Scripture,  waiting  till  each  had  received. 

TO  NATHAN  GOODALE,  ESQ.,  NANTUCKET. 

London,  Jlugust  8,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

It  really  appears  to  me  that  administration  will  proceed  to  such 
extremities  as  will  terminate  in  the  ruin  of  England  and  the 
colonies.  It  is  a  capital  mistake  of  our  American  friends  to  expect 
insurrections  here  ;  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  hope  for  such  an  event. 
The  manufactories  are  in  full  employ,  and  one  of  the  warmest  of 
the  friends  of  America  told  me  that  letters  from  Manchester 
expressed  joy  that  no  American  orders  had  been  sent,  otherwise 
there  must  have  been  disappointment  somewhere.  What  effects 
may  follow  in  the  spring  if  orders  from  Russia  and  Spain  are  not 
received,  I  cannot  foresee  : — some  foretell  discontent  in  the  country 
which  will  affect  the  stocks ;  whether  these  will  happen  depends 
on  contingencies  of  which  I  am  not  a  judge.  There  appears  to  be 
a  tenderness  in  the  minds  of  many  here  for  America,  even  of  those 
who  disapprove  of  the  principles  of  an  entire  independence  of  the 
British  legislature,  and  ardently  wish  an  effort  may  be  taken  to 
accommodate.  It  is  said  most  vigorous  measures  will  take  place 
in  the  spring  if  no  offer  be  made  on  the  part  of  the  colonists. 

With  much  regard,  etc.  S.  CURWEN. 


36  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  [1775. 

August  23,  1775.  Went  to  Sir  John  Fielding's  office,  Bow- 
street  —  examination  of  prisoners  for  robberies,  assaults,  etc.  He 
is  a  venerable  gentleman  and  blind  (as  justice  is  represented);  his 
queries  manifested  a  mild  deportment,  ready  apprehension  and 
great  penetration.  Visited  Hampton  Court  and  gardens,  which  are 
exceedingly  beautiful,  although  deserted  by  the  royal  family.  Here 
are  chairs  of  state  with  rich  canopies,  tapestry  in  gold  and  silver 
grounds,  containing  Scripture  and  ancient  stories  of  Greece  and 
Rome — adorned  also  with  reigning  beauties  of  the  court  of  Charles 
II. — of  the  founders  of  the  different  orders  of  monks,  friars,  nuns, 
etc.,  of  former  kings,  queens,  etc. ;  Madonnas,  the  Supper,  etc. 
The  ceilings  in  high  colouring  and  fine  preservation,  by  Verrio, 
were  as  pleasing  to  me  as  any  part  of  the  ornaments,  as  they  referred 
to  incidents  in  Charles  Il.d's  story.  This  palace  consists  of  several 
squares  mostly  old,  and  in  same  state  (decay  of  time  excepted)  as 
in  Henry  VIII  th's  time,  when  by  the  envy  of  the  courtiers  Cardinal 
Wolsey  (who  built  it  for  his  own  use)  was  obliged  to  present  it  to 
the  king.  The  front  on  the  garden  facing  the  river  is  magnifi 
cent  and  in  good  repair. 

Thence  to  Windsor — St.  George's  chapel  in  excellent  repair. 
Here  are  deposited  the  bodies  of  Henry  VIII.  and  one  of  his  queens, 
and  Charles  I.  in  the  midst  of  the  choir.  In  the  side  aisles  are  fu 
neral  monuments  of  former  kings,  of  which  I  recollect  Edward  IV. 
and  VI. ;  some  ancient  nobility,  and  many  canons  of  the  Roman 
church,  with  their  images  in  sacerdotal  garments  cut  in  brass,  let 
into  flat  grave-stones  on  the  floor ;  stalls  for  the  knights  of  the 
garter;  the  choir  decorated  with  carvings,  and  the  windows  filled 
with  oil  paintings  of  Scripture  stories.  We  then  ascended  the  royal 
apartments  in  the  castle,  consisting  as  at  Hampton  Court  of  an  ar 
mory,  the  walls  being  covered  with  pikes,  halberds,  matchlocks, 
small  arms,  etc.,  disposed  in  a  variety  of  figures.  Over  the  mantel 
piece  a  fine  full  length  of  George  Prince  of  Denmark  (husband  of 
Queen  Anne)  on  horseback ;  the  horse  seemed  alive.  The  other 
rooms  hung  in  rich  tapestry  on  gold  and  other  grounds,  with  paint 
ings,  originals  and  copies  of  the  best  masters.  In  Queen  Anne's 
china-closet  were  wooden  sconces  gilt,  on  which  are  set  china  por 
celain  jars  of  various  shapes  up  to  the  ceiling.  In  a  small  apart 
ment  is  to  be  seen  a  table  fastened  to  the  wall,  whereon  is  a  little 


1775.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  37 

flag  of  white  satin,  with  the  banner  of  France  worked  into  it,  fas 
tened  by  silver  clasps  to  a  slender  reed  of  black  ebony  capped  with 
silver,  which  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  is  obliged  to  present,  and 
lay  on  that  spot  on  the  2d  of  August  annually,  before  twelve  o'clock 
at  midday,  on  forfeiture  of  his  palace  of  Blenheim  and  the  manor 
belonging  to  it ;  this  being  the  tenure  by  which  he  holds  them, 
agreeably  to  act  of  parliament.  From  the  terrace  we  saw  almost 
under  feet  Eton  college,  another  noble  monument  of  Gothic  archi 
tecture.  In  a  square  stands  a  brazen  statue  of  Henry  VI.,  the 
founder  in  royal  robes. 

Visited  Welbore  Ellis's  seat  at  Twickenham,  formerly  Pope's ; 
the  grotto,  being  arches  under  the  house  about  a  man's  height,  (ad 
mitting  a  prospect  into  the  longest  shady  contemplative  walk,  five 
feet  wide,  in  the  garden,)  filled  with  small  flint-stones,  Bristol  and 
other  kinds  in  mortar,  a  few  pieces  of  glass  on  the  top  and  sides  : 
two  or  three  niches  filled  with  the  busts  of  Pope  and  others ; — there 
is  also  in  a  cross  alley  a  statue  of  Terence,  and  in  an  addition 
(made  by  Mr.  Stanhope,  late  owner,)  over  the  centre  of  an  arch,  is 
a  niche  filled  with  a  bust  of  Pope,  and  underneath  are  the  follow 
ing  lines : 

"  The  humble  roof;  the  garden's  scanty  line, 
111  spoke  the  genius  of  a  bard  divine  ; 
But  fancy  now  displays  a  fairer  scope, 
And  Stanhope's  plans  unfold  the  soul  of  Pope.'1 

Mr.  Stanhope's  addition  is  by  far  the  most  elegant  part,  wherein 
are  many  foreign  trees,  such  as  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  weeping 
willows,  etc.  j  also  a  green-house  filled  with  flowers,  plants  and 
fruits.  In  a  retired  part  of  the  grounds  stands  a  plain  obelisk, 
eighteen  feet  high,  dedicated  by  Pope  to  his  mother,  with  the  fol 
lowing  inscription : — 

"  AH  EDITHA ! 

MATRUM     OPTIMA, 

MULIERUM  AMANTISSIMA, 

VALE!"* 


*  "  Alas!  Editha,  best  of  Mothers,  most  affectionate   of  Women,   Fare 
well!" 


38  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1775. 

TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  BOSTON. 

London,  31st  Aug.  1775. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

As  far  as  my  experience  reaches,  I  have  observed  that  the  upper 
ranks,  most  of  the  capital  stockholders,  and  I  am  told  the  principal 
nobility,  are  for  forcing  supremacy  of  parliament  over  the  colonies ; 
and  from  the  middle  ranks  down  are  opposed  to  it.  America  fur 
nishes  matter  for  disputes  in  coffee-houses,  sometimes  warm,  but 
without  abuse  or  ill  nature,  and  there  it  ends.  It  is  unfashionable 
and  even  disreputable  to  look  askew  on  one  another  for  difference 
of  opinion  in  political  matters ;  the  doctrine  of  toleration,  if  not 
better  understood,  is,  thank  God,  better  practised  here  than  in 
America  ;  otherwise  there  would  not  be  such  numbers  of  unhappy 
exiles  suffering  every  disadvantage. 

Incredible  quantities  of  ammunition  and  stores  shipped  and 
shipping  from  Tower-wharf  for  America,  manifests  the  intention  of 
administration  to  prosecute  the  plan  of  subjection  of  the  colonies 
to  the  authority  of  parliament;  for  that  is  the  only  dispute,  as  it  is 
understood  here.  Administration  would  gladly  have  met  the  colo 
nies  half  way  or  more,  had  there  appeared  any  inclination  to  accept 
terms  in  any  degree  consistent  with  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the 
mother  country.  Now,  no  alternative ;  an  absolute  independence 
of  the  colonies  on  Great  Britain,  or  an  explicit  acknowledgment 
of  the  British  legislature  over  all  the  dominions  of  the  empire. 
The  proclamation  which  you  will  receive  by  this  conveyance  was 
published  the  day  before  yesterday  at  the  Royal  Exchange,  with 
all  the  circumstances  of  indignity  the  lord  mayor  could  throw  on  it. 

Instead  of  the  languid  measures  hitherto  pursued,  more  active 
ones  will  succeed,  and  then  wo  to  poor  Massachusetts,  which,  like 
the  scape-goat,  must  bear  the  sins  of  many.  Do  urge  our  remaining 
friends  to  flee  from  the  destruction  that  will  speedily  overtake  that 
devoted  colony. 

You  will  not  wonder  at  the  luxury,  dissipation  and  profligacy 
of  manners  said  to  reign  in  this  capital,  when  you  consider  that  the 
temptation  to  indulgence,  from  the  lowest  haunts  to  the  most  elegant 
and  expensive  rendezvous  of  the  noble  and  polished  world,  are 
almost  beyond  the  power  of  numbers  to  reckon  up. 


1775.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  39 

Please  make  my  compliments  to  Judge  Sewall  and  all  other 
friends  and  acquaintances  with  you ;  and  in  the  kindest  manner 
remember  me  to  Mrs.  Browne. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Sept.  17.  Attended  public  worship  at  the  "  Reformed  Liturgy 
Assembly,"  Essex  House,  Essex-street,  Strand  j  heard  Rev.  Theo- 
philus  Lindsey,  the  Unitarian  reformist,  who  gave  up  a  living  in 
Yorkshire,  (worth  three  hundred  a  year,)  on  the  rejection  of  the 
petition  to  parliament  for  a  revisal  and  amendment  of  the  common 
prayer.  Preacher  serious,  style  good,  discourse  useful. 

Sept.  20.  At  the  Charter  House,  a  foundation  by  Thomas  Sut- 
ton,  Esq.,  at  a  cost  of  <£12,000  sterling,  for  classically  educating 
forty  boys,  and  supporting  eighty  old  bachelors  and  widowers,  who 
are  to  receive  yearly  a  black  cloak,  without  which  never  to  appear 
at  meals,  nor  with  it  without  the  walks ; — besides  ten  pounds  in 
cash,  house-rent,  food,  and  firing.  They  have  about  forty  acres 
(enclosed  by  a  brick  wall  twenty  feet  high,)  laid  out  in  gardens ; 
at  the  entrance  are  the  arms  of  the  donor,  formed  by  small  pebbles 
of  the  size  of  acorns. 

Sept.  21.  At  the  Disputation-club,  Queen's  arms ;  question 
debated,  "  Is  it  not  injustice  in  the  administration  to  pursue  mea 
sures  at  the  cost  of  the  price  of  blood,  without  any  benefit  to  the 
nation  ?" — which  was  voted  in  the  affirmative,  but  not  without  a 
few  dissentients. 

Oct.  11.  Governor  Hutchinson  came  in  his  coach  with  Mr. 
Copley  from  Mr.  Bromfield's,  and  took  Mr.  Pickman  and  myself 
to  his  house,  where  we  dined  in  company  with  Mr.  Bliss,  Mr.  W. 
N.  Boylston,  Mrs.  Copley,  and  the  family. 

JV<w.  18.  News  by  a  packet  from  New-York,  that  Gov.  Tryon 
and  Gov.  Campbell  are  obliged  to  retreat  from  their  respective 
governments  on  shipboard ;  and  that  Dr.  Franklin  had  arrived 
at  the  provincial  camp  at  Cambridge  to  advise  Gen.  Washington 
to  attempt  the  lines  on  the  neck ; — and  that  Samuel  Adams  and 
Mr.  Dickinson  were  at  odds. 

JVbu.  29.  Saw  Mr.  Garrick  in  Hamlet  at  Drury  Lane;  in 
my  eye  more  perfect  in  the  expression  of  his  face  than  in  the 


40  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  [  1775. 

accent  and  pronunciation  of  his  voice,  which,  however,  was  much 
beyond  the  standard  of  his  fellow  actors. 

Dec.  1.  At  great  St.  Helen's,  Bishopgate-street,  where  I  saw 
a  monument  to  Sir  Thomas  Bancroft,  a  lord  mayor's  officer,  and 
an  oppressive  knave,  who  had  heaped  up  much  wealth,  which 
he  left  with  trustees  to  be  improved  till  his  rising  from  the  dead  ; 
which  he  imagined  would  take  place  after  a  certain  period,  when 
his  wealth  was  to  be  returned  to  him.  In  the  meantime,  he  ordered 
that  his  corpse  should  be  laid  and  kept  in  a  coffin,  (with  a  lock 
which  he  could  draw  back,)  and  deposited  in  a  tomb  with  a  glass 
window  and  a  glass  door,  to  be  opened  once  a  year  on  a  given  day, 
to  be  shown  to  any  spectator  ;  all  which  has  been  complied  with 
hitherto.  But  his  trustees  have  with  these  ill-gotten  gains  erected 
an  alms-house  at  Mile-end,  for  the  support  of  poor  women  and 
children. 

Made  another  unsuccessful  attempt  to  enter  the  gallery  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  to  hear  the  third  and  last  reading  of  the  bill 
prohibiting  all  commerce  with  America ;  learned  at  the  door  that 
it  is  to  remain  shut  to  strangers,  for  the  pretended  reason  that  the 
floor  of  the  house  is  too  small  and  the  gallery  necessary  for  the  use 
of  members ;  confirmed  by  Mr.  George  Hayley,  a  city  member, 
whom  I  met  in  the  Strand. 

Thence  to  Herald's  office,  where  Parson  Peters,  with  his  friend 
Mr.  Punderson,  lodges;  the  latter  has  lately  arrived  from  Boston, 
having  escaped  by  rowing  himself  in  a  cockboat  eighteen  miles 
into  the  sound  from  his  native  place,  Norwich,  Connecticut,  and 
being  taken  up  by  a  vessel  and  put  on  board  the  Rose  man-of-war, 
Capt.  Wallace,  and  conveyed  to  Boston.  It  seems  he  was  harshly 
dealt  with  by  the  "  sons  of  liberty"  being  obliged  to  make  two  con 
fessions  to  save  his  life  ;  notwithstanding  which  he  was  hunted,  pur 
sued,  and  threatened,  and  narrowly  escaped  death,  (or  the  Simsbury 
mines,  to  which  he  was  finally  adjudged,  and  he  thinks  with  the 
loss  of  his  eyes,)  which  would  have  been  his  fate  but  for  his  sea 
sonable  and  providential  retreat. 

TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  BOSTON. 

London,  Dec.  4th,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Yours  of  7th  Oct.  affords  me  a  pleasingly  sensible  proof  of  the 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  41 

truth  of  King  Solomon's  observation ;  "  News  from  a  far  country 
is  as  refreshing  as  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul." 

Uncertain  what  may  be  the  fate  of  this,  I  am  restrained  from 
writing  what  might  prove  amusing,  perhaps  informing ;  should  it 
fall  short  of  its  intended  destination,  and  get  into  the  hands  of  the 
provincials,  though  containing  nothing  prejudicial  to  the  interests 
of  America,  even  in  their  own  view,  nor  reflecting  on  the  character 
of  any  individual,  the  most  innocent  expressions,  by  the  force  of 
party  prejudice,  might  be  construed  into  a  sense  entirely  foreign  to 
one's  intention,  and  render  one  obnoxious  or  ridiculous.  Were  I 
ever  so  much  of  a  mind  to  write  on  politics,  I  profess  not  to  have 
such  connections  as  to  justify  any  positive  declarations  concerning 
the  determination  of  the  cabinet  council,  and  whoever  does,  you 
may  be  assured,  if  he  writes  more  than  the  court  pleases  to  publish 
in  the  Gazette,  arrogates  pretensions,  to  which  he  has  no  claim. 

I  will  just  hint  what  appears  to  be  a  matter  of  notoriety  here  : 
the  opposition  in  parliament  is  too  inconsiderable  in  numbers, 
weight  and  measures  to  hinder  the  progress  of  administration  in 
their  plans  respecting  America.  Both  houses  repose  entire  confi 
dence  in  the  king  and  his  ministers'  resolution  not  to  relinquish  the 
idea  of  compelling  the  submission  of  all  subjects  within  the  limits 
of  the  British  Empire  to  the  authority  of  the  supreme  legislature  : 
preparations  for  which  are  making  for  increasing  the  number  of 
troops,  to  be  sent  over  time  enough  for  a  vigorous  push  next 
season.  The  events  of  war  are  uncertain,  and  victory  is  by  many 
thought  doubtful, — yet  it  is  more  than  whispered  by  some  that 
America  had  better  be  dispeopled  than  remain  in  its  present  state 
of  anarchy, — much  more  independent.  Should  this  idea  regulate 
future  measures,  and  should  government  despair  of  subduing  them, 
one  may,  without  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  see  beforehand  what  ter 
rible  destructive  evils  will  then  befall  our  poor,  devoted,  once  happy 
country.  "  0  fortunatus,"  etc.  Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Dec.  12.  To  Newington  to  view  the  house  and  grounds  of 
Dr.  Watts'  friend  Gunston,  celebrated  in  his  poem  "  Sacred  to 
Virtue"  now  owned  by  a  daughter  of  Lady  Abney,  a  niece  of 
Gunston. 

6 


42  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1775. 

In  the  hall  is  a  half  length  of  Caryl,  the  commentator  on  Job, 
and  by  his  side  his  wife,  mother  of  Mr.  Gunston  and  Lady  Abney ; 
also  Sir  Thomas  Abney  and  his  lady.  To  Dr.  Watts'  study,  being 
occupied  by  the  lady,  we  could  not  gain  admittance.  From  the 
balcony  we  had  extensive  views  of  the  town  and  country,  and 
through  and  over  the  whole,  as  well  as  the  house,  are  spread  a 
neatness  and  arrangement  superior  to  any  spot  I  ever  beheld. 

Dec.  15.  At  Covent  Garden,  to  see  Mrs.  Barry  as  Constance 
in  king  John — a  fine  person,  and  esteemed  the  best  actress  now  on 
the  stage. 

Dec.  17.  At  Foundling  Hospital  chapel;  Mr.  Bromley  preached. 
Compared  the  example  of  Jesus  with  that  of  the  most  perfect  of 
heathen  antiquity,  Zeno,  founder  of  the  Stoic  sect,  in  whose  honor 
Athens  declared  by  public  edict,  that  he  had  exemplified  in  his  life 
the  precepts  he  taught,  but  of  whose  inconsistency  the  preacher 
enumerated  several  gross  instances,  not  much  to  the  credit  of  mere 
human  reason,  in  comparison  with  the  most  eminent  and  brightest 
of  mere  men  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  in  whom  great  infirmities 
and  even  follies  are  to  be  perceived ;  his  example  only,  pure  and 
spotless,  being  fit  to  be  proposed  to  mankind  for  their  practice  and 
imitation. 

Dec.  18.  At  New  England  coffee-house,  where  I  read  in  the 
New-York  paper  that  forts  St.  John  and  Chamble  had  surrendered 
to  the  provincials  commanded  by  Col.  Montgomery,  formerly  a 
captain  in  the  regular  service,  and  well  esteemed.  The  garrison 
was  commanded  by  Major  Preston,  with  six  hundred  regulars  and 
Canadians.  The  provincials  immediately  investing  the  fort  were 
only  two  hundred  in  number.  The  officers  are  to  be  sent  home  or 
down  to  General  Gage,  the  commander-in-chief  in  America,  in 
order  to  be  transported.  The  provincials  are  supposed  to  be  de 
signed  for  Montreal,  Gen.  Carleton  retiring  there  after  a  defeat. — 
News  of  a  contrary  kind  is,  that  Falmouth*  in  Casco  Bay,  con 
sisting  of  139  dwelling  houses  and  278  stores,  warehouses,  etc.,  to 
gether  with  many  vessels,  was  burnt  by  Captain  Mowatt  of  the 
Canseau  sloop-of-war,  after  two  hours  notice  to  remove,  for  joining, 
as  the  captain  was  pleased  in  his  letter  to  the  inhabitants  to  term 
it,  with  the  rebels ;  the  particular  crime  or  crimes  not  mentioned. 

*  Now  Portland,  Maine. 


1775.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  43 

Dec.  22.  Walked  to  Brompton-Row  with  B,  Pickman,  to  dine 
with  Judge  Sewall,  who  meeting  us  in  the  Strand  two  days  ago, 
appointed  this  day.  The  family,  besides  Samuel  Quincy,  who  at 
tended  Mrs.  Sewall  and  Mrs.  Green  home,  having  been  to  see  the 
king  robe  and  assent  to  the  American  prohibitory  bill  from  the 
throne.  After  dinner  Governor  Hutchinson  entered  and  invited 
Judge  Sewall,  B.  Pickman  and  myself  to  dine  with  him  to-morrow. 

Dec.  23.  At  Temple  Bar  took  coach  to  Governor  Hutchinson's, 
where  dined  in  company  with  Mr.  Joseph  Green,  Mr.  Copley,  the 
limner  and  lady  with  family,  and  his  children.  In  our  way  through 
Clerkenwell  Green  we  saw  five  couple  of  young  persons  chained 
together,  going  under  care  of  tip-staves  to  Bridewell  prison.  The 
news  of  the  taking  of  St.  John  and  Chamble  on  Sorel-river  con 
firmed  by  an  arrival  from  Quebec  which  left  14th  November. 

Dec.  25.  At  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's ;  saw  the  king  and 
queen,  who  joined  in  the  services  with  becoming  devotion.  Bishop 
of  London  preached. 

Mr.  R.  Clarke  arrived  from  Boston  yesterday,  only  twenty-one 
days  passage.  All  safe  at  Salem.  The  provincials  have  seized  a 
ship  with  five  hundred  casks  gunpowder,  cannon,  mortars,  and 
stores  de  guerre  et  de  bouche  ;  their  activity  and  success  is  aston 
ishing. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  IN  LONDON. 

Islington,  December  27,  1775. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  last  evening  received  your  favor  of  the  24th  inst,  and  it 
afforded  me  great  pleasure  to  observe  that  a  weekly  New  England 
club  was  likely  to  be  made  up;  and  I  am  mortified  that  the 
extreme  coldness  of  the  weather,  and  the  indisposition  I  have 
labored  under  for  several  weeks,  prevent  my  being  in  town  this 
day.  Be  pleased  to  make  my  compliments  to  my  brother  exiles. 
Yesterday  I  received  letters  from  Salem  of  18th  and  20th  November ; 
all  was  well  and  quiet  there,  except  a  small  fracas  on  account  of  an 
expression  said  to  have  been  uttered  by  Mr.  Timothy  Orne,  which 
gave  offence  to  the  ruling  powers  of  the  town,  who  assembled  and 
by  force  took  him  out  of  his  house  into  School-street  in  the  evening, 
designing  to  inflict  the  modern  punishment  of  tarring  and  feathering 


44  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

on  him ;  but  by  the  influence  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  and  his 
promise  to  appear  before  the  Committee  next  morning,  he  was  suf 
fered  to  depart ;  accordingly,  the  next  morning  he  appeared  in 
person;  and  he  to  whom  it  was  reported  he  had  used  the  expres 
sion  appearing  and  denying  it,  promising  to  submit  to  the  present 
government,  pay  the  taxes  required  for  support  of  it,  and  demean 
himself  quietly  and  submissively,  and  take  care  to  avoid  for  the 
future  making  use  of  unadvised  expressions,  his  present  offence 
should  be  forgiven. 

Mr.  Lowell  of  Newburyport  is  an  acting  justice,  the  only  one  of 
the  "  addressers"  commissioned.  The  inferior  court  bench  in  Essex 
is  filled  by  Caleb  Gushing,  B.  Greenleaf,  Timothy  Pickering,  Jr., 
and  Dr.  Samuel  Holton  ;  the  last  but  one  is  the  only  acting  justice 
in  our  part  of  the  county.  Joshua  Ward  and  John  Gardner  are  in 
commission  of  the  peace.  On  the  supreme  bench,  John  Adams, 
William  Gushing,  William  Reed  and  Peasely  Sargent,  all  of  whom 
'tis  said  accept.  Major  Hawley  refuses  all  employment,  saying 
what  he  did  was  purely  to  serve  his  country. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.    CURWEN. 

Dec.  31.  Went  to  Hollo  way  mount,  passing  through  King 
John's  palace-spot;  nothing  standing  but  the  original  front  gate 
way,  under  an  arch  and  two  pieces  of  old  stone  wall,  man-height, 
making  part  of  the  wall  of  stable.  Evening  at  Silver-street  meet 
ing-house  lecture ;  Mr.  Smith  pathetically  addressed  the  young, 
middle-aged  and  old  on  the  close  of  the  year : 

May  the  afflictions  I  have  suffered  the  past  year,  in  an  unhappy 
banishment  from  my  family,  friends  and  country,  be  the  means  of 
increasing  my  reliance  on,  and  submission  to  the  all-disposing  hand 
of  the  wise  and  righteous  Governor  of  the  universe. 

January  1, 1776.  May  the  events  of  the  following  year,  how 
ever  unfavorable  to  the  pride  of  my  heart,  be  productive  of  more 
moral  improvement  than  the  last. 

Jan.  5.  Visited  Joseph  Green — afterwards  to  Samuel  Quincy's, 
where  I  met  Mr.  Flucker,  Judge  Sewall  and  lady,  Samuel  Sewall, 
and  Harrison  Gray,  who  are  bound  to  the  theatre  to  see  the  Jubilee, 
which  is  to  be  exquisitely  decorated  in  the  scenery. 


1776.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  45 

Jan.  20.  Accompanied  by  B.  Pickman  and  Wm.  Cabot,  went 
to  Panton-street,  Haymarket,  to  see  Mr.  Fisher,  lately  arrived  from 
America  ;  he  had  gone  out  as  well  as  Mr.  Flucker.  From  thence 
we  went  to  Gov.  Hutchinson's,  and  after  a  short  stay  departed 
through  the  park  to  Samuel  Quincy's  and  David  Green's  lodgings, 
Parliament-street,  where  we  met  Judge  Sewall,  Mr.  Samuel  Sew- 
all,  Mr.  Flucker,  Mr.  Harrison  Gray,  and  Mr.  Oxnard  ;  R.  Clark 
and  Jonathan  Clark  going  out  of  the  door,  whom  I  saw  for  the  first 
time  since  their  arrival. 

Jan.  26.  Received  a  line  from  Mr.  Isaac  Smith,  inviting  me  to 
a  dinner  at  the  Adelphi  tavern,  designed  as  an  introduction  to  a 
New  England  club,  which  I  have  been  long  desirous  of  establishing. 

Jan.  28.     Almost  as  cold  as  ever  I  felt  in  New  England. 

o 

Jan.  29.  Cold  without  abatement  from  yesterday,  which  will 
ever  be  known  as  the  cold  Sunday,  8^  by  Farenheit.  The  Thames 
passed  over  on  the  ice  :  generous  collections  for  the  suffering  poor. 
The  gains  of  the  laborer  are  almost  always  spent  on  Sunday  at 
furthest  j  foresight  and  provision  for  a  future  day,  is  not  a  virtue 
known  among  them.  The  fires  here  not  to  be  compared  to  our 
large  American  ones  of  oak  and  walnut,  nor  near  so  comfortable ; 
would  that  I  was  away ! 

February  1.  To  the  Adelphi,  Strand,  where  by  appointment 
met  twenty-one  of  my  countrymen,  who  have  agreed  on  a  weekly 
dinner  here,  viz.  : 

Messrs.  Richard  Clark,  Joseph  Green,  Jonathan  Bliss,  Jonathan 
Sewall,  Joseph  Waldo,  S.  S.  Blowers,  Elisha  Hutchinson,  William 
Hutchinson,  Samuel  Sewall,  Samuel  Quincy,  Isaac  Smith,  Harrison 
Gray,  David  Greene,  Jonathan  Clark,  Thomas  Flucker,  Joseph 
Taylor,  Daniel  Silsbee,  Thomas  Brinley,  William  Cabot,  John  S. 
Copley,  and  Nathaniel  Coffin.  Samuel  Porter,  Edward  Oxnard, 
Benj.  Pickman,  Jno.  Amory,  Judge  Robert  Auchmuty  and  Major 
Urquhart,  absent,  are  members  of  this  New  England  club,  as  is 
also  Gov.  Hutchinson. 

London,  Feb.  9.  Passing  through  Westminster  Hall,  I  stopped 
for  a  small  space  at  the  courts  of  common  pleas  and  king's  bench ; 
at  the  former  were  sitting  the  Chief  Justice  De  Grey  and  his  asso 
ciates,  one  of  whom  was  the  famous  Sir  William  Blackstone,  author 
of  the  well  known  commentaries  on  the  laws  of  England  ;  but  no 


46  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

cause  of  importance,  or  lawyer  of  note  speaking,!  proceeded  to  the 
latter,  where  was  sitting  that  excellent  useful  judge,  but  mischievous 
politician,  Lord  Mansfield.  For  the  same  reason  as  the  former  I  quit 
ted  my  stand  here,  and  retreated  to  the  House  of  Commons'  commit 
tee-chamber,  where  for  an  hour  or  two  I  was  entertained  at  the 
examination  of  witnesses  in  the  Worcester  contested  election.  The 
committee  sat  on  an  elevated  bench,  and  looked  like  a  court  of 
sessions ;  the  causes  managed  by  advocates  with  regularity  and 
decency.  One  of  the  committee  was  Sir  George  Saville,  the  chair 
man  Ferguson — all  took  minutes  as  is  usual  in  all  the  courts. 
Thence  to  Judge  Sewall's,  Brompton-row,  where  met  a  few  New 
England  friends  at  dinner  ;  among  them  Mr.  Thomas  Robie,  whom 
I  was  very  glad  to  see,  he  having  arrived  in  England  from  Halifax 
but  three  days  since.  By  him  I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  John 
Prince  in  answer  to  mine  dated  in  August. 

FROM  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE. 

Boston,  Jan.  8,  1776. 

******* 

George  Dodge,  in  a  schooner  from  Dominica,  and  Ingersol  in  a 
schooner  of  Hasket  Derby's  from  Jamaica,  were  lately  sent  in.  The 
property  of  both  vessels  was  transferred  to  merchants  in  the  West 
Indies  to  cover  their  interest. 

James  Grant  is  here  from  Halifax ;  he  has  the  promise  of  a  com 
mission  in  the  army,  and  to  keep  his  rank.  About  two  months  ago 
Mr.  Marston  of  Marblehead,  came  by  night  from  Col.  Fowles'  farm. 
He  knows  nothing  about  Salem.  His  wife  died  last  summer. 

The  other  day  Gen.  Robinson  showed  me  the  devices  upon  the 
denominations  of  the  continental  bills.  On  one  is  represented  a 
heavy  shower  of  rain  falling  on  a  new  settled  country,  motto 
around  it  "  Serenabit ;"  on  another,  a  hand  plucking  the  branches 
from  a  tea-plant,  with  the  motto,  "  Sustine  vel  abstine;"  on  a  third 
a  hawk  contending  with  a  stork,  motto  " Exitus  in  dubio  est  /"  on 
a  fourth,  an  ancient  crown  on  a  pedestal,  motto  "  Si  rede  facias  ;" 
on  a  fifth  a  beaver  gnawing  down  a  full  grown  oak,  motto  "Perse- 
verando  ;"  on  a  sixth  an  Irish  harp,  motto  "  Majora  majoribus  con 
sonant."  They  are  the  inventions  of  Dr.  Franklin. 

When  I  wrote  to  you  in  October  I  forgot  to  send  you  the  fol 
lowing  list  of  officers  in  part  of  the  rebel  army,  found  in  the  pocket 


1776.] 


JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS. 


47 


of  one  of  their  sergeants,  who  was 
heights  of  Charlestown,  viz. : 

Col.  Gerrish,  Newbury. 

Lt.  Col.  Parker,  Chelmsford. 

Major  Bigelow,  Worcester. 

Lt.  Col.  Henshaw,  Leicester. 

Maj.  Brooks. 

Lt.  Col.  Holden. 

Adjt.  Green. 

Col.  Whitney. 

Col.  Woodbridge. 

Major  Buttrick. 

Col.  Porter. 

Major  Miller. 

Col.  Doolittle,  Petersham. 

Adjt.  B.  Moore. 

Col.  Frye. 

Gen.  Whitcomb,  Bolton. 

Col.  WTilliam  Prescott. 

Gen.  Ward,  Shrewsbury. 

Col.Peirce. 

Gen.  Pomeroy,  Northampton. 

Col.  Patterson,  Richmond. 

Adjt.  Guager. 

Col.  Nixon,  Framingham. 

Col.  Ward,  Southborough. 

Maj.  Sawyer. 

Adjt.  Warner. 

Maj.  Wm.  Moore,  Paxton. 

Maj.  Cady. 

Adjt.  Hunt. 

Adjt.  Holman. 

Adjt.  Hart. 

Col.  Mansfield. 

Adjt.  Putnam. 

Maj.  Jackson. 

Lt.  Col.  Hudson  or  Hutchins. 

Adjt.  Hardy. 


killed  on  the  17th  June,  on  the 

Col.  Gardner,  Cambridge. 

Col.  Bridge,  Chelmsford. 

Lt.  Col.  Brickett,  Haverhill. 

Lt.  Col.  Clark. 

Major  Stacey. 

Major  Wood,  Pepperell. 

Lt.  Col.  Powell. 

Adjt.  Holden. 

Adjt.  Gen.  Js.  Keith,  Easton. 

Col.  Green. 

Maj.  Baldwin. 

Adjt.  Woodbridge. 

Secretary  J.  Ward. 

Adjt.  Montague. 

Adjt.  Fox. 

Lt.  Col.  Robinson,  Dorchester. 

Adjt.  Febiger. 

Adj.  Stevens. 

Col.  Bond,  Watertown. 

Col.  Simmons. 

Lt.  Col.  Whitney,  Harvard. 

Lt.  Col.  J.  Reid,  near  Manad- 
nock. 

Adjt.  Marston. 

Maj.  Brigade,  Samuel  Osgood. 

Lt.  Col  Moulton. 

Maj.  Putnam. 

Lt.  Col.  Putnam. 

Maj.  Poor. 

Maj.  Durkee,  Norwich. 

Capt.  Butler,  Peterborough. 

Joseph  Trumbull,  Judge  Advo 
cate,  Norwich. 

Adjt.  Handy. 

Lt.  Col.  Storer. 


48  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  [1776. 

Those  who  have  obtained  leave  to  exchange  the  town  for  a 
country  residence  the  last  two  months,  are  taken  on  board  an  armed 
ship  at  Hancock's  wharf  and  are  landed  at  Point  Shirley,  where 
they  are  cleansed  and  aired  for  the  benefit  of  their  brethren  who 
have  not  had  the  small  pox. 

I  sent  a  verbal  message  to  Mrs.  Curwen  by  Bella  McLeroy,  in 
forming  her  of  your  safe  arrival  and  health ;  but  was  discouraged 
by  Mrs.  Gardiner  from  trusting  her  with  your  letter,  which  I  still 
have  in  my  desk  with  those  lately  received,  and  know  not  if  I  can 
ever  send  them  until  you  will  suffer  them  to  be  inspected  at  head 
quarters  on  both  sides  the  lines.  Mrs.  Browne  and  William  desire 
their  best  regards.  Pray  present  mine  to  all  friends  with  you,  and 
if  you  ever  desire  to  hear  from  me  again,  give  me  reason  to  think 
so  by  sending  me  a  circumstantial  account  of  yourself  and  of  what 
what  passes  on  your  side  of  the  water. 

I  am  your  affectionate  friend, 

WM.  BROWNE. 

London,  Feb.  15.  Dined  with  New  England  Club  at  Adelphi 
Tavern;  was  introduced  to  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  and  saw  there,  for 
the  first  time  since  his  arrival,  Mr.  Fisher,  who  promises  to  spend 
a  day  with  me  soon.  Received  a  letter  from  Col.  Browne,  at  Boston, 
acquainting  rne  of  the  sad  destruction  of  wooden  houses  for  want 
of  fuel,  till  of  late  thirteen  vessels  arrived  with  coals,  &c.,  raising 
the  despondency  of  the  people. 

Feb.  27.  The  city  polled  for  a  chamberlain;  candidates, 
aldermen  Wilkes  and  Hopkins.  The  latter  succeeded,  to  the  no 
small  mortification  of  the  Wilkites,  who  exceed  in  numbers,  among 
the  lower  classes,  the  friends  of  Hopkins.  Mr.  Wilkes  must  look 
upon  himself  as  one  of  the  people,  and  lost  henceforth  to  all 
importance. 

Feb.  29.  Dined  with  Mr.  Gilbert  Harrison,  and  delivered  my 
letter  of  credit  from  Mr.  Timmins  to  Messrs.  Harrison  and  Ansley. 

March  2.  At  Parson  Peters'  saw  Mr.  Troutbeck,  lately  ar 
rived  from  Halifax,  and  Mr.  Wiswall;  mutually  invited  each 
other  to  visit,  and  gave  cards. 

March  4.  James  Russell  and  his  friend  Mr.  Newman  dined 
with  me;  received  a  card  from  Messrs.  Clarke  excusing  them 
selves,  being  pre-engaged. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  49 

March  10.  To  Tichfield-street  to  pay  my  respects  to  Gov.  Oli 
ver's  lady ;  thence  to  Judge  Sewall's,  Brompton-Row,  where  dined. 

March  13.  At  Covent  Garden,  obtained  a  very  convenient 
place  in  the  first  front  seat  lower  gallery,  when  the  oratorio 
called  the  Messiah  was  performed — the  whole  stage  an  orchestra; 
in  the  centre  a  spacious  organ  embellished  by  a  portrait  of  Handel 
surrounded  with  a  glory,  or  such  rays  as  are  placed  round  the 
heads  of  the  saints  of  the  Romish  calendar — our  musical  saint's  per- 
jormanccs  being  as  much  read  and  studied  here  as  their  manuals 
of  devotion  are  by  their  admirers.  The  form  of  the  orchestra  am- 
phitheatrical  and  the  seats  concentric,  except  of  the  vocal  perform 
ers,  who  sat  in  chairs  in  front.  The  leading  singers  were  Mrs, 
Wrighton,  Mrs.  Weischell,  Mr.  Leoni,  etc. — nearly  eighty  per 
formers  in  all.  The  first  violin,  professor  La  Motte ;  the  first  flute, 
Mr.  FJorio.  The  music  was  noble,  grand,  full,  sonorous,  and  aw 
fully  majestic;  the  whole  assembly  as  one,  rising,  added  a  solemnity 
which  swelled  and  filled  ray  soul  with  an — I  know  not  what,  that 
exalted  it  beyond  itself,  bringing  to  my  raised  imagination  a  full 
view  of  that  sacred  assembly  of  blessed  spirits  which  surround  the 
throne  of  God. 

March  14.  Surveyed  the  New  River  works  at  Spafields — 
thence  to  see  the  ravages  of  the  late  fire  at  the  Savoy,  and  through 
to  the  gardens  belonging  to  Somerset  House,  now  about  to  be  pulled 
down,  and  the  ground  between  it  and  the  river  filled  up.  I  cannot 
but  think  with  regret  on  so  many  noble  and  royal  apartments  in 
good  repair,  to  be  destroyed  to  build  offices  for  the  army,  that 
bridle  of  the  nation,  its  scourge,  and  will  be  its  future  ruin. 

March  19.  Attended  lecture  at  Salters'  Hall.  Dr.  Price 
gave  an  excellent  sermon  from  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors"  He  observed  that  this  was  the  only  original  part  of 
the  Lord's  prayer,  (the  rest  being  found  in  the  Jewish  liturgy,)  and 
was  designed  to  inculcate  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  his 
religion,  universal  love  and  good  will  to  all  mankind,  making  it  the 
very  condition  on  which  our  hopes  of  forgiveness  are  suspended. 
As  forgiveness  of  injuries  and  love  of  all  mankind  are  the  most 
amiable  of  all  virtues,  so  are  they  the  most  difficult  to  be  practised, 
and  ought  therefore  to  be  the  more  endeavored  after ;  and  nothing 
can  recommend  us  better  to  divine  favor  and  acceptance. 

7 


50  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

March  21.  Mr.  Heard,  Norroy  king-of-arms,  having  given  me 
a  letter  to  A.  Farley,  Esq.,  Chapter  House,  I  went,  accompanied 
by  William  Cabot,  Samuel  Porter,  Judge  Sewall  and  his  kinsman 
Samuel  Sewall,  and  I.  Bliss,  and  presenting  my  letter,  we  were  ad 
mitted  to  a  sight  of  Doomsday  Books.  One,  in  the  fold  of  a  folio, 
contained  a  valuation  or  estimate  made  for  an  equal  tax  of  all  the 
counties  of  England  in  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror,  except 
the  three  northern  counties  of  Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  and 
Durham,  and  the  three  counties  of  Essex,  Sussex,  and  Kent,  which 
are  contained  in  a  smaller  fold  or  large  octavo.  Sussex  contained 
but  nine  landholders  in  capite ;  all  tenures  being  then  from  the 
crown,  all  the  rest  being  mesne  lords  or  tenants  under  them.  The 
writing  is  fair  and  well  preserved,  but  difficult  to  be  read  from  its 
abbreviations  in  a  multitude  of  places.  The  initial  letters  stand  for 
words.  The  spelling  of  that  age  is  very  different  from  ours;  many 
terms  not  known  now  being  then  in  common  use.  The  chapter 
house  is  of  a  peculiar  construction,  and  was  formerly  the  parlia 
ment  house  in  the  time  of  the  Edwards,  etc.,  and  contains  rolls  of 
court  of  King's  Bench,  Exchequer,  etc.,  for  many  ages  back. 
Evening,  at  a  show  called  Les  Ombres  Chinoises,  at  which  saw 
Earl  Temple  [supposed  author  of  Junius]  and  lady,  with  several 
well-dressed  people  of  fashion — about  forty  spectators  in  all.  The 
"  Ombres"  were  awkward  and  unnatural  except  the  puppet  dancing 
— an  insipid  show. 

March  24.  Heard  Dr.  Fleming  preach  at  Pinners'  Hall ;  his 
ideas  clear,  and  his  delivery  moderate  and  devout.  He  complained 
of  those  mystics  who  denied  the  use  of  reason  in  matters  of  reli 
gion  ;  said  it  was  subversive  of  it,  and  contrary  to  the  whole  tenor 
of  the  canon  of  Scripture,  and  rendered  as  useless  and  unmeaning 
the  motives  and  threatenings  proposed  to  us  therein  for  our  obedience, 
and  progress  in  virtue  and  holiness  ;  declared  mankind  free  agents, 
endowed  with  the  power  of  volition  and  choice,  which  was  the 
foundation  of  all  religious  obedience,  and  without  which  we  were 
not  accountable.  He  denied  the  merit  of  Christ's  sacrifice  to  render 
us  objects  of  divine  acceptance,  which,  he  said,  by  the  divine  prom 
ise  was  to  be  obtained  by  man's  own  serious  and  diligent  per 
formances. 

March  25.     Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Green's  in  company  with  Gov. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  51 

Hutchinson,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  some  weeks,  and  who  ex 
pressed  an  uneasiness  at  my  neglect  to  call,  which  I  accounted  for 
as  arising  from  concurrent  disappointments. 

March  31.  At  Joseph  Green's  in  the  evening,  where  I  met 
Samuel  Quincy. 

April  1,  A.  M.  At  Gov.  Hutchinson's ;  he  was  alone,  reading 
a  new  pamphlet  entitled  "  Jin  Inquiry  whether  Great  Britain  or 
America  is  most  in  fault"  I  accepted  an  invitation  to  return  to 
dinner :  taking  leave  for  the  present,  I  departed,  walking  through  the 
palace  and  park  to  Mr.  Bliss's  lodgings,  where  I  met  Judge  Sewall, 
Mr.  Oxnard  and  Mr.  Smith  ;  returned  to  the  governor's,  with  wrhom 
only  young  Oliver  and  myself  dined.  From  thence,  in  passing 
through  Leicester-square,  I  called  in  at  Mr.  Copley's  to  see  Mr. 
Clarke  and  the  family,  who  kindly  pressed  my  staying  to  tea;  and 
in  the  mean  time  amused  myself  by  seeing  his  performances  in  paint 
ing.  He  was  then  at  work  on  a  family  piece  containing  himself,  Mr. 
Clarke,  his  wife  and  four  children,  of  all  of  whom  I  observed  a  very 
striking  likeness.  At  tea  was  present  Mr.  West,  a  Philadelphian, 
a  most  masterly  hand  in  historic  painting;  author  of  the  well- 
known  and  applauded  piece,  now  in  print,  called  "  West's  Death 
of  Wolfe"  and  taken  from  his  painting.  He  is  now  at  work  on  a 
piece  called  the  "  Death  of  Stephen"  for  the  king,  and  for  which 
he  is  to  have  one  thousand  pounds.  Mr.  West  is  the  king's  history- 
painter,  and  was  kind  enough  to  put  me  into  a  way  of  obtaining  a 
sight  of  the  queen's  palace,  which  he  tells  me  contains,  except 
Houghton  Hall,  the  finest  collection  of  capital  paintings  of  any 
house  in  England,  Returned  with  Mr.  Clarke,  who  was  going  to 
see  his  son  Jonathan,  sick. 

April  3.  Breakfasted  with  Smith  and  Oxnard,  where  I  found 
Samuel  Quincy  and  David  Green,  Judge  Sewall  and  a  Lieutenant 
Merrick.  Bought  Dr.  Price  on  "  Civil  Liberty  and  the  American 
War." 

Went  with  Mr.  Clarke  to  procure  more  convenient  lodgings  for 
his  sick  son,  which  we  found  as  recommended  by  Dr.  Pitcairn  in 
Cross-street,  in  what  is  called  the  Queen's  house,  said  to  be  a 
palace  of  Elizabeth's,  on  a  small  scale,  low  and  in  the  taste  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  remains  of  the  porter's  lodge  at  the 
bottom  of  the  garden,  in  a  peculiar  style,  are  yet  seen.  In  one 


52  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

of  the  lower  rooms  is  a  painting  on  the  windows  with  the  date  of 
1588. 

April  4.  At  our  New  England  club  dinner,  twenty-five  mem 
bers  present. 

April  6.  At  Portuguese  synagogue ;  a  master  informed  me 
that  the  common  people  cannot  read  the  Pentateuch  without  points, 
although  it  contains  only  alphabetic  characters ;  that  the  points 
were  invented  about  the  time  of  Christ  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  and 
that  they  are  necessary  to  ascertain  the  sense,  which  in  many  places 
would  be  wholly  unintelligible  without  them,  and  that  it  would 
cost  six  months  study  to  understand  the  language  so  as  to  follow 
them  in  their  prayers. 

April  7.  Dined  with  Gov.  Hutchinson,  and  we  took  tea  at 
Mr.  Joseph  Green's. 

April  10.  Took  a  view  of  West's  pictures :  amongst  others 
which  filled  two  rooms,  were  the  original  of  the  death  of  Wolfe, 
sold  to  Lord  Grosvenor  for  six  hundred  guineas,  about  seven  by 
five  feet,  in  high  estimation,  although  censured  by  an  anonymous 
writer  in  yesterday's  "Advertiser;"  Lord  Olive's  receiving  the 
Dewannah  from  the  nabob,  figures  about  twelve  inches  high  and 
likenesses  well  preserved, — fifteen  feet  by  eight ;  and  many  other 
groups  of  modern  persons  in  ancient  characters.  Likewise  the 
death  of  Stephen,  the  proto-martyr,  and  at  the  period  of  his  being 
received  after  his  death  by  his  friends ;  the  figures  seven  feet,  the 
size  of  the  picture  about  sixteen  feet  by  seven ;  designed  for  the 
altar  of  St.  Stephen,  Walbrook — six  hundred  guineas  to  be 
received  for  it,  which  Mr.  West  esteems  so  small  a  price  that  he 
considers  it  a  gift  to  the  church. 

April  11.  Visited  Tylney  House,  Epping  forest,  in  company 
with  Messrs.  Flucker  and  Hutchinson.  The  walls  of  the  ball-room 
covered  with  tapestry  of  the  most  lively  tints,  being  the  story  of 
Telemaque — the  ceiling  covered  with  paintings  by  Mr.  Kent.  The 
state  dining-room  is  adorned  with  copies  of  capital  paintings,  three 
of  Titian.  The  state  bedchamber  hung  with  crimson  damask, 
lined  with  deckered  silk,  which  I  am  told  is  India  work  and  cost 
two  thousand  pounds.  Two  other  rooms  hung  in  figured  velvet  on 
satin  ground,  and  crimson  velvet  with  broad  gold  lace. 

Dined  at  Mr.  K's  with  five  of  my  countrymen,  among  them 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  53 

a  Mr.  Bourne,  lately  arrived  from  Halifax ;  he  appears  a  grave, 
solid  man,  whose  acquaintance  I  think  I  shall  esteem. 

April  14  Attended  public  worship  at  Dr.  Price's  in  the  after 
noon,  and  in  company  with  Benjamin  Pickman  took  tea  with  him. 
Mr.  Pickraan  had  a  long  conversation  with  Dr.  Price  on  American 
affairs,  but  their  sentiments  were  widely  different. 

April  15.  Mr.  Boylston  called,  and  we  went  to  Parliament- 
street  to  see  the  procession  of  the  Peers  to  Westminster  Hall  to 
attend  the  trial  of  the  Duchess  of  Kingston  ;  the  lords  wore  their 
robes.  The  queen,  two  princes  and  two  princesses,  and  the  peer 
esses  and  ladies  in  great  multitudes  attended,  and  made  a  most  bril 
liant  appearance. 

April  17.  Went  with  B.  Pickman  to  Highgate,  where  dined 
with  Mr.  Boylston,  and  after  dinner  to  Caen  Wood,  the  seat  of 
Lord  Mansfield.  The  house  elegant,  not  large : — the  centre  is  a 
noble  portico,  the  walls  of  the  hall,  saloon,  chambers,  etc.  covered 
with  paper  of  India  or  Chinese  figures — the  library  a  beautiful  room, 
(having  a  fine  prospect  of  St.  Paul's,  distant  about  seven  miles, 
through  a  wood,  over  a  lawn,  and  ending  in  a  fine  piece  of  water,) 
contains  the  largest  mirrors  I  ever  saw,  being  seven  and  a  half  feet 
high  by  three  and  a  half  in  breadth.  In  the  hall  are  two  tables 
of  jet-black  marble.  The  walls  hung  with  portraits  of  Lord  Mans 
field  and  lady,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Finch,  Earl  of  Nottingham. 

April  22.  Visited  Mr.  Hughes  seventeen  miles  out,  at  Hoddes- 
don,  Herts  ;  the  grounds  laid  out  with  great  taste. 

April  23.  Walked  to  Ware,  wrhich  contains  five  hundred 
houses,  besides  a  great  curiosity  called  "the  great  bed  of  Ware," 
which  is  twelve  feet  square — the  posts,  which  are  of  uncommon 
size,  are  carved  with  white  and  red  roses,  built,  it  is  said,  at  the 
union  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster ;  the  date,  1463,  is 
painted  on  the  centre  of  the  headboard,  which  with  the  tester  is  of 
wood  in  the  same  style,  laid  out  in  compartments  and  surrounded 
with  roses.  The  whole  weighs  half  a  ton  :  twenty  persons  can 
repose  comfortably  on  it. 

April  24.  Walked  through  the  Rye-field  to  the  Rye  House, 
famous  as  the  rendezvous  of  those  who  concerted  the  plot  of  that 
name  : — the  room  in  which  they  met  was  once  a  chapel ;  indeed, 
the  whole  appears  as  the  remains  of  a  famous  seat.  The  walls 


OF  THE 

6    UNIVERSITY 

OF 
S?Al  lcr>QKl\ 


54  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  [1776. 

brick,  and  moulded  round,  forming  two  high  round  towers,  joined 
together  by  a  line  of  defence;  holes  in  the  walls  for  arrows,  etc. 

On  returning  home,  passed  a  farm  called  Nether  Hall,  belong 
ing  to  a  Mr.  Archer;  here  are  the  remains  of  a  palace,  said  to 
have  been  King  Harold's  before  the  conquest.  The  house,  which 
was  very  large,  has  been  pulled  down  ;  two  lofty  brick  towers 
remain,  with  a  wall  of  equal  height,  crowned  with  battlements, 
and  within  a  moat  surrounding  an  acre  of  land  covered  with  ruins. 
In  one  of  the  angles  is  a  watch-tower,  now  converted  into  a  hen 
roost.  Arriving  at  home,  found  John  Inman,  brother  of  Ralph, 
our  countryman,  who  dined  with  us ;  he  is  of  a  blunt  humor,  easy 
and  jolly  ;  with  him  and  a  Mr.  Musgrave  we  set  off  to  Mr.  Daute- 
ville's,  at  Brocksburn,  by  invitation  ;  passed  an  agreeable  evening 
at  Mr.  Hughes'. 

May  1.  The  young  chimney-sweepers  with  their  sooty  and 
chalked  faces  are  dressed  out  with  ribbons  and  gilt  paper,  a  gro 
tesque  and  merry-andrew  appearance.  With  their  brushes  and 
scrapers  they  made  a  kind  of  musical  sound,  raising  contributions 
on  their  employers  and  others.  The  milk- maids  appeared  in  fine 
and  fantastic  attire,  and  carried  on  their  heads  pyramids  of  three  or 
four  feet  in  height,  finely  decorated.  In  Ave-Mary  lane  saw  the 
milkmen  and  maids  again  with  at  garland  so  called;  being  a  pyra 
mid  consisting  of  seven  or  eight  stories,  in  the  four  angles  of  which 
stood  a  silver  tankard,  and  on  the  sides,  between  each,  lessening  in 
height  as  the  stories  rose,  stood  a  silver  salver,  the  top  crowned 
with  a  chased  silver  tea-kettle,  round  which  were  placed  sundry 
small  pieces  of  plate  ;  the  whole  adorned  with  wreaths  and  festoons 
of  flowers,  gilt  paper,  etc.,  carried  on  a  bier  and  hand-barrow,  it 
being  a  custom  amongst  them  to  collect  of  the  customers  a  yearly 
contribution.  The  wrought  silver  appeared  worth  many  hundreds 
of  pounds,  and  is  borrowed  for  the  occasion. 

May  3.  Dined  with  H-  -H—  — ,  Esq.,  Capt.  T—  — , 
and  B.  Pickman,  at  Jerusalem  tavern  ;  on  my  way  meeting  Mr. 
Elisha  Hutchinson,  who  informed  me  of  Col.  Browne  and  son's 
arrival. 

May  4.  Called  on  my  friend  Browne,  who  had  sent  a  message 
last  evening  by  Mr.  Pickman  to  invite  his  three  countrymen  to  his 
lodgings.  Col.  Browne  acquainted  me  with  some  facts  relative  to 


1776.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  55 

the  unfortunate  abandonment  of  Boston  by  the  king's  troops ;  which 
after  all  has  the  appearance  of  being  forced.  Would  to  God  this  ill- 
judged,  unnatural  quarrel  was  ended,  but  I  fear  thousands  of  useful 
innocents  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  wickedness,  pride  and  folly  of 
unprincipled  men.  Many  of  our  countrymen  called  during  our  stay. 

May  5.  To  Magdalen  Hospital ;  heard  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dodd 
preach  from  John  xv.  17,  "  These  things  I  command  you,  that  ye 
love  one  another." — A  most  elegant,  sensible,  serious  and  pathetic 
discourse,  enough  to  have  warmed  a  heart  not  callous  to  the  im 
pressions  of  pity.  I  own  my  eyes  flowed  with  tears  of  compassion. 

May  7.  Attempted  to  get  into  Drury  Lane  theatre,  to  see  Mr. 
Garrick  in  the  character  of  Archer,  but  the  crowd  so  great,  that 
after  suffering  thumps,  squeezes,  and  almost  suffocation  for  two 
hours,  I  was  obliged  to  retire  without  effecting  it.  Went  to  Mr. 
Silsbee's  lodgings  to  tea. 

May  8.  Visited  Mr.  Fisher,  who  very  politely  received  me, 
and  appeared  glad  to  see  me ;  from  thence  to  Gov.  Hutchinson's, 
who  was  alone — having  before  called  at  Col.  Browne's  (my  towns 
man  and  friend)  lodgings,  whom  I  did  not  see,  being  gone  abroad. 
Thence  to  Judge  Sewall'sin  Brompton-Row,  but  meeting  Mr.  Har 
rison  Gray  near  the  house,  was  told  that  neither  he  nor  Mr.  Porter 
were  at  home.  Called  again  at  Col.  Browne's,  where  I  found  Col. 
Saltonstall ;  they  both  agreed  to  dine  with  me. 

May  9.  With  Col.  Browne  went  to  St.  Paul's  to  hear  the 
music  for  the  benefit  of  the  sons  of  clergy.  Dr.  Porteus*  preached 
to  a  crowded  assembly.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  bishop 
of  London,  the  lord  mayor  and  sheriffs,  in  their  formalities  present. 

May  10.  Met  at  Col.  Browne's  Gov.  Hutchinson,  Judge 
Sewall  and  Col.  Saltonstall ;  proceeded  to  Westminster  Hall,  heard 
opinions  from  Judges  De  Grey,  Gould,  Blackstone  and  Nares  re 
specting  a  verdict. 

May  11.  Advices  of  the  arrival  of  a  vessel  which  left  Phila 
delphia  by  consent  of  Congress,  on  the  owner's  paying  them  as 
duty  one  third  the  cost  of  vessel  and  cargo ;  and  that  Arnold  is  ap 
pointed  a  major  general,  and  still  remained  before  Quebec,  five 
thousand  men  having  been  sent  from  Philadelphia.  Took  tea  with 
Mr.  Copley  and  Mr.  Clark. 

*  Afterwards  bishop  of  Chester. 


56  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

May  13.  Walked  to  Walworth,  the  gardens  of  a  Mr.  Mad- 
docks,  a  noted  florist,  wherein  I  saw  the  greatest  variety  of  finely 
variegated  tulips  I  believe  in  England. 

May  14.  Went  to  the  exhibition-room  in  the  Strand,  where 
were  more  than  fifty  people  viewing  the  pictures,  models,  etc.,  as 
contained  in  a  book  delivered  to  each  at  entering.  There  were 
many  performances  and  some  very  excellent  in  their  kind,  of  which 
the  view  of  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  and  a  few  night  pieces  struck 
me  most. 

May  15.  Visited  Pinchbeck's  to  view  stained  glass ;  most 
elegant  figures,  finest  tints,  in  the  new  revived  art,  by  a  Mr.  Jervais; 
among  which  were  two  full  lengths  of  Christ  and  Moses,  bought 
at  seventy  guineas  by  a  clergyman,  and  presented  to  Westminster 
Abbey.  From  thence  to  the  exhibition-room  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  in  Pall-mall,  where  were  to  be  seen  a  most  curious  col- 
ection  of  elegant  and  capital  performances  in  oil,  crayons,  enamel, 
sculpture,  etc.,  a  great  number  present.  Meeting  Colonels  Browne 
and  Saltonstall  at  the  door  of  their  lodgings,  agreed  to  meet  them 
at  the  Exchange  and  dine  together  at  three  o'clock. 

May  17.  Took  tea  at  Mr.  J.  Green's;  Harrison  Gray  and 
other  company  there ;  having  dined  with  eleven  New  Englanders 
at  St.  Clement's  coffee-house. 

May  20.  Took  lodgings  with  a  Mr.  Palmer  at  the  Herald's 
office. 

May  21.  Visited  the  Boar's-head  -tavern,  Cannon-street,  to 
view  the  very  room  or  rather  spot  in  which  Prince  Harry  with 
FalstafF  used  to  assemble  with  their  friends  Nym,  Bardolph,  etc., 
to  hold  their  nocturnal  frolicks.  Agreed  to  make  a  company, 
(if  feasible,)  to  dine  next  Thursday.  Returned  home,  where  found 
Richard  Routh,  who  came  with  B.  Pickman. 

June  2.  Called  at  Mr.  Copley's,  Leicester-square ;  afterwards 
at  No.  11  Haymarket,  the  lodgings  of  Col.  Browne  and  Col.  Sal 
tonstall. 

June  5.  Walked  to  Mr.  Green's  ;  Major  Brattle  entered,  and 
we  three  took  coach  to  Drury  Lane,  to  see  for  the  last  time  Gar- 
rick  in  Richard  III.  by  command  of  their  majesties,  but  were  too 
late — house  filled. 

June  6.     To  Westminster  Hall  to  hear  the  sentence  of  Gen. 


1776.]  JOURNALANDLETTERS.  57 

Smith  and  Mr.  Hollis  for  bribing  a  borough,  who  are  to  be  impri 
soned  six  months,  and  pay  one  thousand  marks. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  EXETER. 

London,  June  6,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

We  have  received  advices  from  America,  though  not  authenti 
cated  enough  to  find  a  place  in  the  Court  Gazette,  still  generally 
believed  ;  there  are  some  who  doubt  the  whole. 

Gov.  Tryon  in  his  letters  by  the  packet  from  New- York,  which 
left  2d  May,  writes  that  "  Arnold  having  received  a  reinforcement, 
made  a  second  attack  on  Quebec,  but  finding  it  impracticable  to 
take  it  by  storm,  he,  on  the  19th  April,  after  five  days'  attempt, 
retreated ;  in  the  meantime,  the  Isis,  with  eight  hundred  men  on 
board  two  transports  which  arrived  with  her,  having  landed,  imme 
diately  joined  the  garrison  and  issued  out,  disturbing  them  on  their 
march,  and  destroying  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men."  It  is  re 
ported  that  eighty  men  taken  last  February  on  Montgomery's 
defeat  from  the  New  England  regiments,  incorporated  with  the 
garrison  and  behaved  bravely  ;  on  the  contrary,  seventy  of  the 
regulars  entered  among  the  provincials,  and  turning  against  them 
when  hard  pushed,  occasioned  the  carnage  stated  above.  Gen. 
Lee  is  said  to  be  taken  with  seventy  men  by  a  party  of  Gen. 
Clinton's,  as  he  was  reconnoitering,  without  firing  a  gun ;  the 
story  is  told  in  three  different  ways,  but  finds  credit.  A  vessel  from 
Halifax  has  arrived,  bringing  their  Governor  Legge  to  answer  com 
plaints.  Gen.  Washington  has  issued  a  proclamation,  forbidding 
all  rapine  and  plunder  in  Boston,  a  source  of  comfort  to  our  friends 
here.  There  is  a  long  list  of  military  stores  in  the  papers,  said  to 
have  been  left  at  Boston  by  Gen.  Howe,  but  it  is  thought  to  be  a 
false  account. 

London,  my  favorite  place  of  abode,  is,  as  the  peasant  said,  "  a 
sad  lickpenny"  and  truly  one  cannot  breathe  the  vital  air  without 
great  expense.  The  numerous  applications  to  the  treasury  by 
Americans  whose  pretensions  are  so  mach  beyond  mine,  exclude 
the  most  distant  hope  of  relief  for  me,  should  inadvertence  or  more 
unjustifiable  principles  of  conduct  reduce  me  to  the  necessity  of 
asking  a  favor,  which  I  am  determined  at  all  events  to  defer  to  the 

8 


58  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

longest  period,  if  it  please  the  great  Disposer  of  events  to  prolong 
my  uneasy  abode  in  this  country  of  aliens  for  many  days  yet  to 
come. 

To  communicate  with  a  friend  is  almost  the  only  relief  from  dis 
tracting  thoughts ;  for  the  harmless  amusements  in  which  I  was 
engaged  last  summer  and  fall,  and  which  served  to  dissipate 
uneasy  reflections,  now  having  lost  their  novelty,  delight  no 
more. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  8.  Dined  with  Judge  Sewall  at  Brompton-Row ;  and 
with  him,  his  wife  and  sister,  Mr.  Blowers  and  wife,  Samuel  Sewall 
and  William  Browne,  was  admitted  to  the  queen's  palace  in  St. 
James's  Park.  The  rooms  are  large,  lofty,  and  extremely  well 
rilled  with  pictures ;  many  of  them  said  to  be  originals  of  the  best 
masters;  amongst  them  are  seven  Cartoons  of  Raphael,  and  a 
large  collection  of  miniatures  in  gilt  frames  and  under  glass.  From 
thence  to  tea  at  Col.  Browne's,  afterwards  to  the  opera  house  j 
entertained  with  the  opera  of  Antigono,  the  Signers  Rousini  and 
Gabrieli,  principal  performers,  interludes  of  exquisitely  fine  dancing. 

June  10.  Read  "  Common  Sense"  published  irv America,  and 
republished  here,  in  favor  of  American  independence ;  and  also 
"  Plain  Truth"  an  answer  to  it  -,  and  Provost  Smith's  oration  on 
the  Quebec  heroes,  Montgomery,  etc. 

TO  DR.  CHARLES  RUSSELL,  ANTIGUA. 

London,  June  10,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  retreat  from  the  land  of  oppression 
and  tyranny ;  for  surely,  greater  never  appeared  since  the  days  of 
Nimrod.  I  sincerely  wish  well  to  my  native  country,  and  am  of 
opinion  that  the  happiness  of  it  depends  on  restraining  the  violences 
and  outrages  of  profligate  and  unprincipled  men,  who  run  riot 
against  all  the  laws  of  justice,  truth  and  religion.  Sad  and  deplo 
rable  is  the  condition  of  those  few  that  like  Abdiel,  amidst  hostile 
bands  of  fallen  spirits,  retain  their  primitive  loyalty.  So  strangely 
unprosperous  hitherto  have  been  the  measures  of  administration  in 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  59 

America,  that  the  active  provincials  have  taken  courage,  and  ac 
complished  what  in  contemplation  would  have  appeared  morally 
impossible.  Gen.  Burgoyne  sailed  from  hence  ten  weeks  ago  for 
Canada  with  four  thousand  Brunswickers  and  seven  or  eight  regi 
ments  ;  Lord  Howe  in  the  Eagle  about  a  month,  and  the  first  divi 
sion  of  Hessians,  consisting  of  eight  or  ten  thousand,  about  a  fort 
night  before  him.  Gen.  Howe,  his  brother,  with  nine  thousand  was 
at  Halifax  the  beginning  of  April.  The  second  division,  ('tis  said,) 
will  sail  this  week,  consisting  of  four  thousand,  which  completes 
the  whole  number  of  foreign  troops.  The  whole  of  the  regular 
army  on  the  continent  will  not  be  short  of  forty  thousand  men.  It 
is  surprising  what  little  seeming  effect  the  loss  of  American  orders 
has  on  the  manufactories;  they  have  been  in  full  employ  ever 
since  the  dispute  arose  ;  stocks  are  not  one  jot  lessened,  the  people 
in  general  little  moved  by  it ;  business  and  amusements  so  totally 
engross  all  ranks  and  orders  here  that  administration  finds  no  diffi 
culty  on  that  score  to  pursue  their  plans.  The  general  disapproba 
tion  of  that  folly  of  independence  which  America  now  evidently 
aims  at,  makes  it  a  difficult  part  for  her  friends  to  act. 

By  letters  from  Salem  to  the  16th  April  I  find  they  were  in  a 
quiet  state  there,  and  hugging  themselves  in  the  fatal  error  that 
government  had  abandoned  the  design  of  reducing  them  to  obedi 
ence.  Six  vessels  laden  with  refugees  are  arrived  from  Halifax, 
amongst  whom  are  R.  Lechmere,  I.  Vassal,  Col.  Oliver,  Treas 
urer  Gray,  etc.  Those  who  bring  property  here  may  do  well 
enough,  but  for  those  who  expect  reimbursement  for  losses,  or  a 
supply  for  present  support,  will  find  to  their  cost  the  hand  of  charity 
very  cold ;  the  latter  may  be  kept  from  starving,  and  beyond  that 
their  hopes  are  vain.  "  Blessed  is  he  (saith  Pope)  that  expecteth 
nothing,  for  he  shall  never  be  disappointed  ;"  nor  a  more  interesting 
truth  was  ever  uttered. 

I  find  my  finances  so  visibly  lessening,  that  T  wish  I  could  re 
move  from  this  expensive  country,  (being  heartily  tired  of  it,)  and 
old  as  I  am,  would  gladly  enter  into  a  business  connection  anywhere 
consistently  with  decency  and  integrity,  which  I  would  fain  pre 
serve.  The  use  of  the  property  I  left  behind  me  I  fear  I  shall  never 
be  the  better  for ;  little  did  I  expect  from  affluence  to  be  reduced 
to  such  rigid  economy  as  prudence  now  exacts.  To  beg  is  a  mean- 


60  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

ness  I  wish  never  to  be  reduced  to,  and  to  starve  is  stupid ;  one 
comfort,  as  I  am  fast  declining  into  the  vale  of  life,  my  miseries 
cannot  probably  be  of  long  continuance. 

With  great  esteem,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  13.  Went  early  to  call  on  my  townsmen  Messrs.  Dal- 
glish  and  Hastie;*  met  Capt.  Poynton  ;  Mr.  Hastie  delivered  me 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Pynchon.  Mr.  Thomas  Danforth,  late  from 
Boston  by  the  way  of  Halifax,  and  Mr.  R.  Russell,  called  and  staid 
with  me  till  eleven  o'clock  at  night. 

June  15.  Accompanied  Mr.  Danforth  to  Gov.  Hutchinson's 
and  Judge  Sewall's. 

June  18.  Called  on  Mr.  Hughes,  who  invited  me  to  a  second 
visit  to  his  seat  at  Hoddesdon;  showed  me  a  Massachusetts  libel  for 
a  transport  from  London,  signed  by  the  new  judge  of  admiralty, 
Timothy  Pickering,  jun.  Dr.  Sylvester  Gardner  bitterly  laments 
his  unhappy  situation  at  Halifax,  with  a  deplorable  account  of  his 
losses  at  leaving  Boston,  etc. 

June  19.  To  the  British  Museum,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Dan 
forth,  In  the  library  I  saw  King  John's  original  charter  called 
Magna  Charta ;  a  book  of  prayers  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  executed 
finely  by  herself,  the  writing  very  plain,  letters  fair  and  well  pre 
served,  the  covering  of  red  velvet  worked  in  flowers  by  her  own 
hand.  The  Alexandrian  manuscript  copy  of  the  Bible,  said  to 
have  been  written  in  the  fourth  century,  containing  the  gospel  of 
Nicodemus,  a  forgery  composed  in  that  age;  all  written  on  parch 
ment,  in  capitals,  without  distinction  of  words,  or  verse,  or  sen 
tences.  Also  many  of  the  letters  of  Charles  I.,  amongst  which  the 
original  of  his  to  Glamorgan,  a  papist,  in  Ireland,  promising  to 
make  good  his  engagement  to  him  in  establishing  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  there,  and  toleration  of  it  in  England. 

Thursday,  June  20.  Accompanied  Mr.  Danforth  to  Judge 
Oliver's  lodgings,  in  Jermyn-street,  and  with  him  and  his  son  pro 
ceeded  through  the  Park  to  Westminster  Hall,  expecting  to  hear 
Lord  Rochfort  and  Mr.  Sayre's  case,  but  it  did  not  come  on.  Just 

*  Importers  of  Salem. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  61 

looking  into  Chancery,  I  observed  the  judges  as  they  were  going 
out  of  King's  Bench  turned  about  and  saluted  with  a  bow.  Chief 
Justice  Lord  Mansfield's  train  borne  up  by  a  gentleman.  Chief 
Justice  of  Common  Pleas,  Sir  William  De  Grey,  made  a  speech  on 
a  trial  between  a  Mr.  Popham,  etc.,  on  an  election  affair. 

Met  my  townsman,  Samuel  Grant;  the  first  time  I  have  seen 
him  since  his  arrival  from  Mississippi. 

June  21.  Called  at  Messrs.  Browne  and  Saltonstall's  lodgings, 
where  I  saw  Col.  Morrow  and  Mr.  Johonnot,  of  Boston,  refugees, 
for  the  first  time  since  their  arrival. 

Mr.  Bourne,  one  of  my  countrymen,  brought  me  a  letter  which 
came  by  a  Cape  Ann  schooner,  dated  Salem,  2 1st  April — when  all 
was  well.  My  friend's  advices  concerning  the  discipline  and 
number  of  the  provincial  troops,  and  the  number  and  strength  of 
the  American  navy,  will  prove,  when  put  to  the  test,  to  be  a  delu 
sive  fancy:  civil  wars  in  time  make  good  generals  and  soldiers,  but 
the  immense  inequality  will,  I  suppose,  put  an  end  to  this  war  be 
fore  they  will  have  time  to  qualify  ;  in  any  case,  America  must  be 
ruined,  perhaps  desolated.  I  pray  God  inspire  all  with  a  spirit  of 
moderation  and  wishes  for  a  reconcilement  and  oblivion  of  past 
confusions ;  and  may  the  righteous  flourish  as  the  palm-tree,  and 
the  wicked  wither  and  their  root  consume  away. 

June  23.  At  Rolls'  Chapel.  Dr.  Hurd,  bishop  of  Litchfield 
and  Coventry,  preached  an  ingenious  discourse.  Mr.  Browne,  R. 
Clark,  E.  Hutchinson,  Mr.  Lloyd,  Mr.  Johonnot,  Judge  Oliver  and 
son,  accompanied  me. 

TO  MR.  ISAAC  SMITH,  EXETER. 

London,  June  26,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard,  of  Salem, 
filled  with  American  fancies;  their  power,  strength,  grandeur,  and 
prowess,  by  land  and  sea ;  their  policy,  patriotism,  industry,  prq^ 
gress  in  the  useful  arts,  and  their  fixed  determination  to  withstand 
the  attacks  of  tyranny,  etc.,  etc.  All  these  fanciful  notions  will, 
(too  soon,  alas!  to  their  sorrow,)  like  Ephraim's  goodness,  "van 
ish  as  the  morning  cloud  and  early  dew,"  and  prove  to  be  fatal 
delusions. 


62  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

Two  or  three  companies  of  Bostonians  are  lately  arrived  from 
Halifax.  I  am  determined  to  take  a  journey  westward,  and  shall 
stop  as  near  you  as  possible.  I  shall,  however,  depart  hence  as 
Abraham  did  from  the  land  of  the  Chaldees,  not  knowing  whither 
I  go;  fain  would  I  trust  in  the  same  kind  protecting  hand  that 
guided  that  good  old  patriarch ;  would  to  God  I  had  his  faith,  but 
fear  my  future  allotments  will  be  poverty  and  pilgrimage. 

Your  friend,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

London,  June  27.  At  Westminster  Hall  to  hear  Lord  Roch- 
fort,  secretary  of  state,  and  Mr.  Sayre's  case,  for  false  imprisonment 
and  seizing  the  latter's  papers.  Verdict,  one  thousand  pounds  for 
the  latter.  Tried  before  Chief  Justice  De  Grey. 

July  1.  Breakfasted  with  Col.  Saltonstall;  afterwards  to 
Judge  Oliver's  to  have  a  sight  of  Dr.  Elliott's  letters,  conceived  in 
the  whig  strain. 

July  3.  With  Mr.  Browne  visited  Bunhill  Fields  burying- 
ground  to  view  Judge  Chambers  Russell's  grave — passed  John 
Bunyan's  tomb,  1688. 

July  5.  At  Croydon,  where  the  Duke  of  Bedford  has  a  hunt 
ing  seat.  In  this  place  he  and  the  Marquis  of  Blandford,*  youths 
of  twelve  and  thirteen,  are  at  a  boarding-school.  I  arrived  at 
Mrs.  Grosvenor's,  the  lodgings  of  the  two  Ingersolls,  D.  and  J., 
and  to  the  latter  I  had  a  letter  from  D.  Deberdt,  recommending  me 
to  the  house,  which  I  found  full,  and  am  therefore  disappointed. 
Thence  to  the  church  :  the  vicar  is  Dr.  Apthorp,  my  countryman ; 
it  is  in  excellent  repair ;  in  a  separate  corner  are  the  tombs  of  six 
archbishops,  viz.  Grindall,  Whitgift,  and  Sheldon,  with  statues  over 
them  and  placed  against  the  wall,  and  in  decumbent  postures,  in 
episcopal  habits  and  crowns,  the  latter  of  white  marble  polished, 
and  on  the  entablature  the  emblems  of  mortality  in  middle  relief, 
executed  in  a  masterly  manner  in  Italy  ;  the  three  others  are  Wake, 
Potter,  and  Herring,  in  flat  tombs,  and  their  names,  &c.  inscribed. 
Dined  with  the  Ingersolls  at  Mrs.  Grosvenor's. 

July  8.     Paid  visits  to  Mr.  Fisher  and  Col.  Saltonstall ;  left  a 

*  Afterwards  duke  of  Marlborongh. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  63 

card  at  Gov.  Hutchinson's,  who  is  in  the  country.  Took  tea  at 
Mr.  Blowers'  in  company  with  Judge  Sewall  and  family. 

July  10.  At  Guildhall — Court  Common  Pleas,  in  which  sat 
Chief  Justice  De  Grey — King's  Bench,  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mans 
field—the  former  addressed  the  jury  in  a  case  of  slander  in  a  most 
agreeable  manner. 

Speaking  of  the  Standard  in  Cornhill  sometimes  referred  to  in 
books  relative  to  distances,  I  called  on  an  inhabitant  there,  but 
could  get  no  satisfaction,  he  telling  me  he  had  himself  inquired 
about  it  to  no  purpose.  But  very  few  are  acquainted  with  the 
curiosities,  etc.,  the  knowledge  being  confined  to  those  skilled  in 
city  history. 

July  13.  Breakfasted  with  Mr.  Oxnard  and  Mr.  Silsbee. 
Asked  a  man  how  far  it  was  to  Chelsea,  and  was  answered,  in  the 
true  New-England  style,  "/  dorft  know — about  half  a  mile." 
This  I  note  as  the  first  instance,  to  my  remembrance,  of  the  like  I 
have  met  with  on  this  side  the  water. 

Had  a  free  conversation  with  a  couple  of  conversible  gentlemen, 
not  commonly  to  be  met  with ;  the  better  sort  or  gentry  being  too 
proud  or  reserved  to  mix  with  those  they  don't  know,  or  to  indulge 
a  promiscuous  chat. 

July  14.  Worshipped  at  Allhallows,  Lombard-street ;  the  of 
ficiating  priest  was  Mr.  Peters,  the  refugee  from  Hebron,  Connecti 
cut;*  his  text  2  Peter  chap.  iii.  verses  1  and  2,  "  But  grow  in 
grace"  etc.  Mr.  Peters  dined  with  me. 

*  Author  of  a  travestied  history  of  Connecticut. 


64  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 


CHAPTER    II. 

London,  July  15.  Walked  out  with  the  intention  of  paying  my 
respects  to  Gov.  Hutchinson  before  leaving  London — met  him  in  the 
Park  with  Mr.  Flucker,  and  took  leave;  receiving  copies  of  two 
letters  with  leave  to  show  them  to  Mr.  Isaac  Smith,  one  being  to 
himself  and  the  other  to  Mr.  Hollis,  both  from  Dr.  Elliott,  and 
intercepted  by  Gen.  Howe. 

Tuesday,  July  16.  Left  home  at  an  early  hour  in  the  Salisbury 
coach.  On  Hounslow  heath,  through  which  we  passed,  three 
monuments  of  human  folly  and  divine  justice — as  many  gibbets 
with  the  remains  of  so  many  wretches,  hanging  in  chains;  a  little 
beyond,  a  high  obelisk  crowned  with  a  large  gilt  ball,  erected  by 
the  late  duke  of  Cumberland  at  his  lodge  in  Windsor  Park.  On 
the  other  hand,  at  a  distance  of  twenty  rods  from  the  road,  another 
obelisk,  ending  in  a  blunt  point ;  two  miles  further  stands  a  more 
lofty  one,  scarcely  finished,  of  four  stories,  illuminated  by  square 
windows,  the  design  of  the  present  duke.  The  road  from  Wallop 
to  Salisbury  is  delightfully  pleasant,  and  hard  as  a  garden  gravel- 
walk  ;  at  four  miles'  distance  is  to  be  seen  the  spire  of  the  cathe 
dral,  supposed  to  be  the  highest  in  England.  The  land  rising 
gradually  from  the  plain  till  the  sight  is  bounded  by  a  ridge  of  high 
hills,  from  the  rising  filled  with  enclosures,  rows  and  clumps  of 
trees,  and  many  farm-houses ;  alighted  at  Salisbury  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Salisbury,  July  17.  Started  for  Stonehenge,  a  distance  of 
eleven  miles,  the  first  five  through  highly  cultivated  grounds.  At 
the  distance  of  three  miles  from  the  city,  on  the  right,  is  to  be 
seen  an  eminence  apparently  of  an  oval  figure,  lying  beyond  the 
improved  grounds,  enclosed  with  hedges,  etc.,  which  seems  to  be 
raised  by  art,  or  formed  into  its  present  shape  or  figure,  at  least,  by 
the  hands  and  industry  of  man ;  the  ascent  to  the  plain  on  which 
its  base  stands  is  above  the  level  of  the  improvements  on  the  hither 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  65 

side ;  it  is  an  easy  slope  at  an  angle  of  45°,  and  measures  round  one 
mile  ;  on  the  rim  of  the  first  slope  are  cornfields  ;  within  is  a  slope 
of  the  same  figure  as  the  lower,  rising  nearly  to  the  same  height ; 
in  a  plain  on  one  side  is  planted  a  small  group  of  trees ;  this  spot  in 
former  days  was  the  site  of  Old  Sarum,  containing  about  sixty 
acres,  unless  I  am  misinformed,  without  one  house  on  it,  now  enti 
tled  to  send  two  members  to  parliament.  On  the  lower  plain,  and 
bordering  on  the  slope,  stands  one  house,  where  dwells  a  family 
supplying  the  curious  who  visit  there  with  punch,  wine,  and  tea. 
The  view  under  this  long  range  of  hills  presents  a  most  pleasing 
and  variegated  prospect. 

Turning  out  of  the  road  over  the  lawn,  void  of  trees,  bushes, 
stones,  and  as  even  as  a  bowling  green,  we  soon  arrived  in  sight 
of  the  object  of  our  pursuit,  STONEHENGE  :  its  first  appearance  re 
sembled  a  company  of  men ;  in  different  views  it  assumed  very 
different  shapes.  About  a  mile  from  this  place,  encompassing  it 
in  a  circular  Jine,  stand  many  of  those  bodies  of  earth  called  bar 
rows  or  tumuli,  supposed  burial  places  of  the  Druids ;  their  form 
is  globular,  from  nine  to  twelve  feet  in  height,  and  from  thirty-five 
to  forty  in  diameter  : — their  surfaces  smooth,  all  of  the  same  shape, 
and  not  very  different  in  size.  I  viewed  them  well,  and  remem 
bering  that  they  never  could  be  counted,  I  nevertheless  set  about 
the  task  with  confidence  of  success ; — my  first  enumeration  was 
eighty,  second  eighty-two,  third  and  fourth  different,  so  that  I  was 
convinced  of  the  difficulty  of  the  task  and  gave  it  up — almost 
imagining  that  the  Druid  presiding  over  these  sacred  ruins  puzzles 
and  confounds  the  minds  of  all  who  make  the  iniquitous  attempt. — 
The  outside  row  of  stones  is  an  imperfect  oval,  eighteen  in  number  ; 
those  upright  are  about  seventeen  feet  high  and  about  four  feet 
wide.  Eight  very  large,  but  not  of  so  great  length,  lying  flat 
wise  on  the  tops  of  the  outside  row — nine  on  the  tops  of  those 
within;  fourteen  small  uprights  stand  within,  in  different  direc 
tions  or  lines ;  twenty-eight,  perhaps  more,  lying  out  of  the 
ground — two  lying  in  the  ground,  that  look  as  if  in  their  natural 
bed.  Two  columns  of  the  largest  size  and  of  an  uneven  surface 
stand  upright ;  in  one  of  these  near  the  end,  is  a  small  hollow, 
the  size  and  shape  of  what  Don  Quixote  took  for  Mambrino's  hel 
met.  In  the  former  near  the  ground,  is  a  small  hollow  of  the  size 

9 


66  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  [1776. 

of  a  pint  basin,  said  to  have  been  impressed  when  the  devil  threw 
the  rock  at  the  friar  and  struck  him  on  the  heel.  Many  other  tra 
ditions,  tales  and  follies  are  related  by  the  credulous  and  supersti 
tious  vulgar  about  this  wonderful  pile.  There  is  no  appearance  of 
the  chisel  or  hammer,  but  in  two  of  the  rocks,  one  very  large  has 
on  each  end  an  excavation  about  fourteen  inches  long  and  about 
seven  deep,  designed  to  be  placed  on  the  upright  ones.  The  up 
right  one,  of  which  the  former  lies  at  its  foot,  has  on  top  a  circular 
rising  just  the  size  of  those  below,  and  seems  as  if  intended  to  be 
let  into  the  hollows  to  keep  the  arch  stones  and  those  lying  on  the 
tops  of  the  uprights  steady  and  secure.  And  I  doubt  not  the  cross 
stones  lying  still  on  the  tops  of  the  uprights  are  secured  the  same 
way.  This  pile  stands  on  a  lofty  eminence  of  great  extent  and  has 
on  it  neither  tree,  bush,  shrub  or  stone  within  many  miles  on  either 
side,  and  is  called  "  the  plain  of  Salisbury."  Thence  at  a  distance 
of  seven  miles,  I  was  admitted  to  Lord  Pembroke's  seat.  In  the 
court  are  fine  busts  and  statues.  The  house  is  a  noble  building, 
round  a  square ;  the  front  is  a  plan  of  Inigo  Jones,  looks  over  a 
lawrn,  through  which  is  a  natural  river  improved  by  art ;  through 
the  lawn  are  interspersed  clumps  of  4;rees,  statues  and  bustos,  vases 
and  obelisks,  rendering  the  spot  delightful  beyond  description. 
The  rooms  are  filled  with  antique  statues,  busts,  vases,  urns,  sarco 
phagi  without  number.  Among  other  things  a  curalis  sella  made 
of  iron  and  brass — the  stone  coffin  that  Terence's  remains  were 
deposited  in,  and  the  urn  that  contained  the  ashes  of  Horace ; — 
also  an  exact  model  of  the  Venus  of  Medicisand  the  Apollo  Belvi- 
dere ; — was  it  not  for  the  complaisance  due  the  fair  sex,  I  should 
prefer  the  latter  to  the  former,  and  believe  it  is  to  that  principle 
alone  that  antiquarians  are  so  lavish  in  their  praises  of  the  god 
dess.  On  returning  to  Salisbury,  three  miles,  after  dinner  I  strolled 
to  the  cathedral ;  the  pulpit  of  stone  is  in  the  body  of  the  church, 
the  reading  desk  is  in  the  choir ;  the  ceiling  curious  and  finely 
painted  and  gilded,  laid  out  in  compartments  of  many  figures,  with 
roses,  &c.  in  the  centre.  The  windows  filled  with  paintings ;  the 
buttresses,  pillars  and  decorations  are  similar  to  Westminster 
Abbey.  This  cathedral  is  supposed  to  be  five  or  six  centuries  old ; 
it  stands  in  a  place  called  Salisbury  Close,  surrounded  by  walls, 
having  three  gates  that  are  shut  every  night.  It  has  privileges 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  67 

distinct  from  the  town,  and  is  the  residence  of  the  bishop  and  his 
clergy,  besides  private  families. 

Took  coach  for  Exeter. 

July  27.  Two  despatches  from  America  on  their  way  to  Lon 
don,  with  advices  that  an  engagement  had  happened  between  Gen. 
Howe  and  the  Americans,  with  a  loss  of  18,000  men  on  both  sides, 
and  so  great  was  the  carnage  that  one  regiment  had  but  five  men 
left.  On  inquiry  I  believe  the  account  cannot  be  true  to  the  extent 
of  loss. 

July  28. — Exeter.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  many  of  the 
churches  of  this  city  are  placed  in  compartments,  or  tablets  against 
the  walls  in  many  places,  collections  of  texts  of  Scripture.  It  is 
believed  that  the  cathedral  has  been  standing  nine  hundred  years, 
and  its  ancient  appearance  justifies  it ;  the  military  garb  some  of 
the  statues  are  dressed  in  is  of  the  period  of  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries. 

July  30.  Attended  divine  service  in  the  cathedral,  to  hear,  as 
is  the  custom,  the  assize  sermon  preached  before  the  judges,  who 
were  Barons  Eyre  and  Hotham ;  the  preacher,  a  Mr.  Simmons;  a 
sensible  and  serious  discourse  from  Proverbs  14:  34,  '<  Righteousness 
exalt eth  a  nation." 

TO  THOMAS  DANFORTH,  ESQ.,  BROMPTON-ROW,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  July  30,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

********  9* 

Dined  at  Whitchurch ;  we  were  joined  at  table  by  five  gentle 
men  of  the  turf,  going  to  the  Andover  races  in  this  vicinity :  the 
jokes  flew  freely,  and  excited  laughter  among  themselves  and  af 
forded  me  some  amusement,  although  conceived  in  terms  to 
which  I  was  unaccustomed  ; — their  boisterous  mirth  and  manners 
brought  to  my  mind  the  descriptions  to  be  met  with  in  books,  of 
gentlemen  of  that  character,  and  is  a  proof  that  they  have  justly 
copied  the  originals.  Again  we  took  fresh  horses,  and  in  an  hour 
measured  eight  miles,  passing  the  Earl  of  Portsmouth's  seat,  remark 
able  for  nothing  that  I  could  see,  (but  yet  it  covers  more  ground 
than  the  neighboring  farm  houses,)  lying  just  before  we  entered 
the  Andover  race  grounds,  an  extent  of  two  or  three  miles  under 


68  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

a  range  of  naked  hills  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  by  enclosures 
beyond  which  the  road  runs,  and  on  which  we  met  and  overtook 
multitudes  of  each  sex,  every  rank  and  condition,  dressed  in  their 
best  attire,  to  partake  of  the  diversions  of  the  race ;  being  too 
early,  we  missed  a  sight  I  would  gladly  have  enjoyed.  At  a  dis 
tance  of  three  miles  we  descended  into  the  town  of  Andover,  which 
like  the  situations  of  most  towns  in.  England,  is  in  a  bottom,  con 
taining  two  hundred  houses,  a  church  and  town  hall,  with  open 
market  under  it,  and  adorned  with  a  spire  on  the  top,  and  a  modern 
structure,  as  many  of  the  houses  are. 

********** 

At  the  distance  of  eight  miles  from  Salisbury,  we  passed 
through  five  or  six  villages  of  houses  with  mud  walls  and  thatched 
roofs,  such  only  being  seen  for  many  miles  in  the  west.  Alighted 
at  last  at  the  Red  Lion  in  Salisbury,  having  rode  eighty-three 
miles  in  fifteen  hours.  The  houses  in  Salisbury  are  in  ancient 
style  of  building,  and  contain  five  thousand  inhabitants.  I  peeped 
into  the  cathedral  during  service ;  the  worshippers  were  the  dean, 
five  or  six  ecclesiastics,  eight  singing  boys,  and  eight  as  miserable 
looking  wretches  as  ever  entered  the  doors  of  a  hospital ;  they 
were  literally,  as  the  gospel  says  of  those  who  are  called,  "  the 
blind,  the  halt,"  &c.,  and  are  hired  to  attend  :  and  without  this  ex 
pedient  I  fancy  the  lay  hearers  would  be  as  few  as  Dr.  Swift's  con 
gregation.  The  ceiling  is  as  gaudy  as  gold  and  paint  can  make 
it,  and  in  the  taste  of  Henry  Vllth's  chapel,  but  not  open  work, 
and  by  its  appearance  has  been  neglected  for  some  centuries.  In 
short,  it  looks  like  an  old  neglected  military  officer  out  of  service, 
with  his  regimentals  worn  threadbare  and  soiled.  Indeed  the  whole 
church  is  so  slovenly  and  dirtily  kept,  that  a  stranger  would  judge 
that  these  stewards  of  the  Lord's  inheritance  regarded  the  revenues 
more  than  the  repairs  of  the  mansion  house.  The  pews  or  seats 
are  in  a  declining,  and  if  not  soon  propped  up,  will  be  in  a  decum 
bent  state  ; — the  pulpit  of  stone,  perhaps  to  denote  the  blockish 
quality  of  its  possessors.  A  curious  statue  of  St.  Osmond  is  here, 
said  to  have  been  brought  from  old  Sarum,  and  supposed  of  the 
eleventh  or  twelfth  century ;  but  where  he  lived  or  died  is  not 
within  the  compass  of  my  reading.* 

*  Chancellor  of  England  and  Bishop  of  Salisbury  under  William  the  Conqueror. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  69 

Having  performed  a  ride  of  ninety  miles  in  seventeen  hours, 
alighted  in  this  city  of  Exeter,  my  distance  from  London  being  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two  miles.  The  number  of  inhabitants  is 
scarcely  seven-eighths  as  numerous  as  at  Boston  in  New  England  ; 
standing  on  much  less  ground,  and  on  an  eminence  in  the  centre 
of  a  bottom  encompassed  by  distant  high  hills ;  on  one  side  runs 
the  river  Exe,  over  it  a  bridge  some  centuries  old.  The  streets 
narrow  and  dirty — houses  of  ancient  style.  The  city  is  encom 
passed  with  a  wall,  in  some  places  almost  entire,  very  high,  and 
crowned  with  battlements  ; — perhaps  more  gates,  gateways  and 
arches  here  than  in  any  other  place  in  England.  I  was  told  that 
forty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  coach  to  be  seen  in  the  city.  Here 
are  nineteen  parish  churches,  not  one  with  a  spire,  but  having  large 
towers  and  battlements ;  and  eleven  meeting-houses  for  Presbyte 
rians,  Quakers,  Methodists,  Catholics,  and  Jews.  The  castle 
lately  demolished  to  make  room  for  a  court-house.  The  cathedral 
front  is  adorned  with  sixty  mutilated  statues,  having  the  appearance 
of  a  thousand  years.  Among  the  various  monuments  within,  is  one 
erected  many  ages  since,  to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  an 
enthusiast,  who  died  a  martyr  to  his  folly  in  presuming  to  fast  in 
imitation  of  our  Saviour  ;  being  a  just  resemblance  of  a  body 
wasted  by  hunger  to  a  skeleton. 

I  am,  with  great  regard, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Exeter,  August  1.  Attended  the  assizes  at  the  castle ;  the  cause 
before  Baron  Eyre  was  a  suit  of  Lord  Clifford,  a  Roman  Catholic 
peer,  against  a  Mr.  Prode,  for  encroaching  on  the  rights  of  his 
manor  of  Ringmoor,  within  which  is  part  of  the  town  of  Teign- 
mouth,  lying  on  the  river  Tyne.  Lord  Clifford  claimed  up  to  high 
water  mark,  below  which  for  178  feet  he  had  built  and  enclosed ; 
but  on  the  trial  Lord  Clifford  made  an  offer  to  compromise  the  claim, 
allowing  Mr.  Prode  to  enjoy  one  half  his  encroachment  for  three 
lives  or  ninety-nine  years,  paying  yearly  ten  shillings,  and  surren 
dering  the  other  half,  which  terms  were  acceded  to,  and  the  trial 
was  quashed. 

August  5.  Removed  to  Sidmouth,  a  watering  place,  where  I 
propose  to  reside  some  time  with  rny  friend,  Rev.  Isaac  Smith, 


70  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

who  officiates  as  minister  to  the  dissenting  congregation,  partly 
made  up  of  the  company  resorting  hither  for  the  benefit  of  sea 
bathing  and  drinking  the  waters.  I  am  now  at  Mr.  Follet's. 

August  12.  Sidmouth  consists  of  about  a  hundred  houses,  built 
of  mud  walls  and  thatched  roofs,  except  a  very  few  with  Cornish 
tile  and  with  shingles,  very  low,  situated  in  a  bottom  or  vale;;  the 
lands  about  are  under  good  improvement.  On  each  side  stand 
two  ridges  of  hills,  ending  in  cliffs,  the  foot  washed  by  the  tide. 
In  the  town  is  an  old  church  with  a  clock  and  a  meeting  house. 
The  inhabitants  chiefly  hired  out  to  the  Newfoundland  traders,  and 
for  the  most,  part  in  low  circumstances.  The  town  is  within  the 
manor  of  Sir  Wilmot  Prideaux,  whose  ancestor  having  mortgaged 
the  estate  to  the  ancestor  of  a  person  now  insane,  the  leases  cannot 
be  renewed,  and  therefore  the  houses  are  going  to  decay,  none  in 
clining  to  repair  more  than  necessary  at  an  uncertainty. 

TO  DR.  CHARLES  RUSSELL,  ANTIGUA. 

Sidmouth,  August  14,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  has  given  me  great  pain  ;  people  in  similar  circum 
stances  of  distress  must  be  brutal  not  to  feel  for  one  another.  Let 
us  endeavor  to  fortify  our  minds  against  despondency ;  perhaps 
our  prospects  will  brighten  ;  if  not,  reason  and  a  submissive  dispo 
sition  may  greatly  alleviate,  though  they  cannot  wholly  remove 
the  weight  of  trouble.  I  sincerely  wish  you  and  your  connections 
a  removal  of  the  sufferings  you  are  at  present  under. 

You  are  candid  enough  to  place  my  demand  to  the  right  ac 
count.  I  would  sooner  have  endured  hunger  than  needlessly  add 
to  any  one's  distresses,  much  less  those  for  whom  I  am  bound  by 
many  ties  to  promote  their  happiness  and  interest.  Do  riot  re 
member  the  demand,  consult  your  convenience  ;  I  have  not  wanted, 
although  am  reduced  to  a  rigid  economy,  which  you  know  was  not 
my  case  in  New  England.  This  watering  place,  the  resort  of 
much  genteel  company  for  sea  bathing,  is  the  most  frugal  place  in 
England ;  it  is  in  Devonshire,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Exeter,  and 
about  two  hundred  miles  from  London. 

Your  favors,  ever  esteemed,  I  ask  a  continuance  of,  and  re 
main,  etc.  S.  CURWEN. 


1776.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  71 

FROM  THOMAS  DANFORTH. 

Knightsbridge,  August  18,  1776. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

Since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were. 
I  have  received  your  two  epistles,  though  the  last  but  two  or  three 
days  ago,  it  having  lain  some  time  at  Palmer's,  from  whence  I  re 
moved  a  fortnight  this  day  to  Mr.  Pemberthy's  in  Queen's  Row, 
six  or  eight  houses  north  of  Judge  Sewall's,  where  I  have  very 
agreeable  lodgings.  I  neglected  answering  particularly  your  first 
letter,  expecting  every  day  a  second,  and  having  nothing  particu 
lar  by  way  of  news.  I  have  now  determined  to  write,  news  or  no 
news,  and  as  you  know  it  is  not  against  my  conscience  to  affirm 
that  I  saw  the  same  velvet  in  the  loom,  for  the  same  reason  I  think 
it  very  innocent  to  make  a  small  budget  of  news.  You  will  there 
fore  be  pleased  to  understand  and  be  informed,  that  a  few  days  ago 
the  Commissioners  with  Nathaniel  Coffin,  Mr.  Porter,  the  Comp 
troller,  the  Inspector  General,  Col.  Leonard,  Mr.  Barack,  Mr. 
Mather,  Mr.  Faneuil,  etc.,  etc.,  arrived  from  Halifax  ;  what  recep 
tion  they  will  meet  with  is  uncertain.  You  see  without  doubt  in 
the  papers  the  news  from  the  army  at  Staten  Island.  Sheriff 
Loring  writes  Col.  Hatch,  that  he  expects  to  spend  the  winter  in 
Roxbury,  and  shall  clean  up  his  house  there  for  his  place  of  resi 
dence. 

Col.  Tyng  writes  to  Judge  Sewall,  that  when  he  is  settled  in 
his  house,  which  he  proposes  to  take  at  Amboy,  he  shall  be  more 
particular.  It  seems  that  the  accounts  they  have  from  the  de 
serters  are  very  encouraging ;  that  they  are  much  divided  upon  the 
matter  of  independency.  I  think  that  the  enemies  of  opposition 
to  Parliament  may  regard  the  matter  in  that  light,  and  appear 
openly ;  that  this  will  be  a  lucky  handle,  and  wrill  finally  be  the 
means  of  oversetting  the  combination.  It  is  said  that  there  is  a 
large  party  in  South  Carolina,  Maryland,  Connecticut,  and  New 
Hampshire,  in  opposition ;  these  will  assist  the  king's  troops  when 
they  are  well  warmed  in  dispute  with  their  brethren.  It  would  not 
be  strange  if  the  rebel  interest  should  melt  like  snow  in  a  hot  sun, 
when  once  it  begins  to  fail.  All  but  the  congress  have  an  excuse 
for  revolting,  and  think  that  they  save  their  honor.  Thousands  will 


72  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

revolt  from  them  upon  a  specious  pretence,  who  never  would  if 
such  could  not  be  found.  You  have  seen  in  the  papers  an  account 
of  the  Yankee  privateer  brought  into  the  river ;  one  Johnston  of 
Boston,  is  master,  and  Downer  of  Roxbury,  surgeon.  The  prisoners 
are  now  on  board  of  a  74  gun  ship  at  Sheerness.  They  give  a  more 
favorable  account  of  the  situation  of  the  friends  of  government  than 
we  have  before  had,  but  some  allowances  must  be  made.  Daniel 
Bliss  writes  from  Quebec,  that  they  have  reason  to  think  that  above 
a  thousand  men  about  Albany  are  ready  to  join  Gen.  Burgoyne ; 
he  makes  the  loss  of  the  rebels  in  that  expedition  to  be  2000  men, 
killed,  prisoners,  and  by  sickness,  upon  a  moderate  computation. 
The  400  men,  inhabitants  of  Staten  Island,  with  others  as  they 
come  in,  are  put  under  command  of  Gen.  Ruggles,  who  is  to  keep 
possession  of  the  island.  I  am  much  obliged  by  your  agreeable 
account  of  your  journey,  but  an  account  of  your  journey  to  London 
again  will  be  more  agreeable,  which  I  hope  will  be  soon.  Our 
friend  Bourne  is  gone  into  the  country,  so  that  I  am  at  some 
loss  to  give  you  so  particular  an  account  of  the  lottery  as  I  could 
wish.  There  is  much  about  Molesworth's  Plan  in  the  Ledger  of 
this  day.  I  shall  examine  it,  and  if  it  does  not  contain  the  whole 
matter,  will  insert  the  remainder  before  I  close  this  letter.  Bourne 
said  that  he  discouraged  him  from  purchasing  chances.  Brattle, 
Boylston,  etc.,  have  returned  from  France.  I  have  heard  nothing 
farther  of  Porter.  Treasurer  Gray,  Abel  Willard  of  Lancaster, 
and  I,  have  just  come  from  Salters'  Hall  meeting-house,  where  we 
heard  a  Mr.  Pickard  of  Carter-street,  near  St.  Paul's.  Being  down 
in  the  city,  I  took  up  Molesworth's  publication,  and  found  it  to  be 
the  same  with  what  is  contained  in  the  Ledger.  I  see  that  there 
is  an  order  in  the  papers  for  all  the  militia  of  New-York  to  be  in 
readiness  to  march.  There  will  probably  be  warm  work.  I  find 
that  you  give  no  account  of  your  situation  in  your  letter.  I  sup 
pose  you  have  found  the  diamond  mine,  and  choose  to  engross  the 
whole  profits.  I  have  paid  Col.  Pickman  as  you  desired, — he 
made  no  observations.  Mrs.  Bray  did  not  know  how  to  direct  me 
to  pay  for  the  wine  and  ale,  so  that  remains  as  it  was.  I  should 
copy  all  your  excuses  for  your  letter,  were  it  not  that  I  suppose 
they  are  fresh  in  your  memory.  I  hate  both  writing  fairly  and 
copying  my  own  letters  particularly.  I  think  I  have  covered  the 


1776.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  73 

same  quantity  of  paper,  and  have  therefore  a  right  to  close.     To 
conclude  therefore,  please  remember  me  to  the  Doctor.     Salute 
Priscilla  and  Aquila,  and  all  the  pretty  girls  who  are  in  Exon. 
Your  very  humble  servant, 

THOS.  DANFORTH. 


TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Bristol,  August  24,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR: 

The  regret  with  which  I  left  Sidmouth  was  in  some  measure 
balanced  by  the  agreeableness  of  the  day.  To  pass  by  our  first 
stage,  the  least  amusing,  our  second  to  moisten  our  driver  and 
horses,  for  both  often  want  watering,  was  on  the  borders  of  Black- 
down  at  a  place  called  Southhast,  and  at  "  the  sine  of  George  Inn, 
heer  all  sorts  ofleckers  are  sold  ;"  besides  the  peculiar  taste  of  the 
painter  in  spelling,  the  letters  were  of  so  doubtful  a  form  that  my 
fellow  traveller,  Mr.  Davis,  chose  to  read  "leckys"  which  word, 
(if  to  be  found  in  the  Devonshire  nomenclature  I  am  ignorant  of 
its  meaning,)  he,  being  skilled  in  provincial  dialects,  may  be  ac 
quainted  with.  Our  third  stage  was  at  the  Castle  inn,  Taunton; 
on  our  way  hither  we  saw  a  hill  called  Quantook,  so  like  our 
Indian  names  I  could  not  help  remarking  it.  After  a  small 
delay  we  proceeded  to  Hillbishop,  and  dined  at  the  hospitable  table 
of  Mr.  Jirrald  ;*  his  good  husbandry  is  fully  repaid  by  a  plentiful 
harvest  of  apricots,  nectarines  and  apples ;  nor  is  his  table  without 
the  best  cider  England  affords,  which  is  scarcely  equalled  by  the 
most  sparkling  champagne.  Our  next  stage  was  at  Bridgewater ; 
from  the  inn  we  walked  to  Miss  Sealy's  garden,  planned  to  pro 
mote  the  wise  purposes  of  thought  and  meditation.  Here  we  re 
galed  ourselves  with  green  gages  and  gooseberries,  the  boughs 
being  loaded.  At  the  bottom  of  the  garden  is  a  small  piece  of 
water,  filled  with  large  carp,  brought  to  the  surface  by  pieces  of 
bread  thrown  in,  which  they  rose  to  catch,  a  pleasing  sight  I  never 
before  had.  Our  next  stage  was  eighteen  miles  to  Cross,  where 
we  were  told  the  beds  were  full,  and  they  had  no  horses ;  so  we 

•  A  dissenting  minister. 

10 


74  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

could  not  pass  the  night  nor  be  carried  further  : — however,  we  met 
a  friendly  stranger  in  Mr.  Cornelius  Frye,  of  Bristol,  \vho  gave  up 
his  room.  Here  we  supped  all  together  and  passed  our  time  so 
ciably,  talking  treason  and  justifying  American  independence. 
Next  morning  we  left  at  seven,  and  passing  Clifton  on  the  left 
covered  with  excellent  improvements,  arrived  at  Bristol,  the  Bush 
inn  opposite  the  Exchange. 

Yours  truly, 

S.    CURWEN. 

Bristol,  August  24.  Called  at  Mr.  Waldo's ;  he  being  absent, 
I  left  a  card.  Soon  after  he  came  and  carried  me  to  his  house  to 
dinner,  in  company  with  John  Boylston  and  Mr.  Browne; — after 
dinner  walked  over  Kingsdown  Hill  to  the  Hot  Wells  on  the 
banks  of  the  Avon,  where  I  took  a  glass  of  the  water  and  returned 
to  the  inn.  Soon  after  left  for  Birmingham,  through  Newport, 
Gloucester,  and  Upton,  which  latter  reminded  me  of  the  incident  of 
the  amiable  Sophia  Western's  muff,  which  Tom  Jones  picked  up  in 
his  own  bed.  There  are  many  originals  of  Squire  WTestern,  but  I 
am  told  Mr.  Allen,  late  of  Bath,  was  the  character  from  which 
Mr.  All  worthy  was  drawn.  Hence  to  Worcester,  a  handsome  town, 
wide  streets,  a  fine  cathedral  in  good  repair,  but  not  abounding  in 
funeral  monuments.  At  last  we  arrived  at  Birmingham,  which,  in 
its  general  appearance,  looks  more  like  Boston  than  any  place  in 
England. 

Birmingham,  August  26.  Hearing  that  Judge  Oliver  and  Mr. 
Lloyd  were  in  town,  I  repaired  to  the  inn,  but  they  had  departed. 
I  met  them  soon  after  as  they  were  leaving  town  for  London  via 
Woodstock,  and  gave  a  letter  to  Mr.  Danforth. 

August  28.  Walked  out  and  met  a  Quaker  at  the  door  of  his 
house,  near  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  on  the  Litchfield  road,  com 
manding  an  agreeable  prospect  bounded  by  distant  hills  in  an  am- 
phitheatric  line ;  engaged  him  in  conversation,  and  by  invitation 
went  in  for  half  an  hour ;  found  him  a  sensible  man  and  a  warm 
.American,  as  most  of  the  middling  classes  are  through  the  king 
dom,  as  far  as  my  experience  reaches.  Beyond  the  Tweed,  I  know 
not;  however,  the  Scotch  within,  to  my  knowledge  are  antiministe- 
rialists.  Passed  an  agreeable  day  at  Mr.  Russell's,  two  miles  out  of 


1776.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  75 

town  ;  he  is  of  the  house  of  Smith,  Son  &  Russell,  who  ship 
largely  to  New-York  and  Boston.  He  has  been  in  America,  and 
is  her  steady  and  ardent  advocate. 

August  31.  Stepped  to  a  gun-maker's  to  see  a  rifle,  (the  first 
I  ever  saw,)  and  many  other  pieces  of  peculiar  construction  I  was 
a  stranger  to ;  the  master  is  to  make  six  hundred  rifles  for  govern 
ment,  but  is  in  principle  an  antiministerialist,  as  is  the  whole  town. 

Sept.  6.  Sir  William  Meredith  the  other  day  declared  at  Mat- 
lock,  that  he  looked  on  the  violent  measures  against  America  to  be 
very  impolitic,  and  that  Lord  North  was  of  the  same  mind,  and 
only  joined  out  of  respect  for  the  king,  who  was  warm  and  deter 
mined  to  pursue  such  at  all  events,  even  though  with  the  loss  of  a 
hundred  thousand  men.  It  will  be  well  if  a  pertinacious  adherence 
to  a  certain  plan  of  conduct  respecting  that  unhappy  country  be 
not  productive  of  evil  fruits  to  the  interests  of  the  king  and  empire. 
May  it  please  God  to  infuse  wisdom,  prudence,  and  moderation  into 
the  breasts  of  those  on  whose  counsels  the  fate  of  both  depend. 

Sept.  9.  A  letter  in  the  London  Chronicle,  said  to  have  been 
brought  by  the  Isabella,  an  advice-boat  from  Quebec,  relates  a 
defeat  of  the  provincials  before  Crown  Point,  with  the  loss  of  eight 
hundred  killed,  eight  hundred  wounded,  and  four  hundred  taken 
prisoners;  and  that  the  garrison  is  in  Gen.  Carleton's  hands,  said 
to  have  been  obtained  July  23d ;  a  story  well  told,  but  which  wants 
proof. 

Sept.  10.  Was  told  as  we  passed  Castle  inn,  that  Lord  North 
was  momently  expected  there  from  Sand  well,  the  Earl  of  Dart 
mouth's  seat. 

Sept.  11.  Took  coach  for  Bristol  by  the  way  of  Tewksbury; 
met  an  officer  who  gave  himself  great  liberties  respecting  America, 
to  which  I  took  the  freedom  of  giving  several  severe  checks,  and 
my  companion  spared  not  till  he  was  thoroughly  silenced  and 
humbled  ;  he  said  many  ungenerous,  foolish  and  false  things,  and 
I  did  not  forbear  telling  him  so. 

Sept.  16.  At  11  o'clock  P.  M.  departed  from  Birmingham  for 
Bristol ;  at  Worcester  took  a  relay  of  horses,  and  arrived  at 
Tewksbury  at  breakfast ;  went  to  the  church,  almost  the  magnitude 
of  a  cathedral,  which  contains  many  curiosities ;  in  a  flat  grave 
just  before  the  choir  is  buried  Prince  Henry,  son  of  Margaret  of 


76  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

Anjou,  widow  of  the  unfortunate  King  Henry  VI.,  \vho  was  slain 
by  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Queen  at 
"  the  battle  of  the  bloody  meadow,"  so  called  from  the  tradition 
that  it  overflowed  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  on  that  occasion. 
Here  is,  also,  in  a  kneeling  posture,  a  statue  of  George,  Duke  of 
Clarence,  who  is  said  to  have  been  drowned  in  a  butt  of  malmsey  : 
— Richard,  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  king-maker  : — Osrick,  a  king  of 
Northumberland,  who  founded  a  church  on  the  spot  where  this 
church  stands.  In  two  hours  after  leaving  this  place  we  arrived 
at  Gloucester,  and  in  the  cathedral  saw  among  many  monuments 
that  of  the  unfortunate  King  Edward  II.,  who  was  murdered  at 
Berkeley  Castle.  Here  also  lies  another  unfortunate  prince,  Robert, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  whose  younger  brother,  William  Rufus,  seized 
the  crown  of  England  during  his  absence  on  a  visit  to  the  Holy 
Land  ;  he  was  imprisoned  many  years  in  the  Castle  of  Cardiff. — 
Over  his  grave  is  a  statue  in  a  decumbent  posture,  made  of  Irish 
oak,  which,  when  struck,  sounds  as  if  of  metal.  This  cathedral  is 
kept  in  fine  order;  has  a  vaulted  choir,  and  the  most  elegant 
cloisters  of  any  in  England.  Arrived  at  Bristol  at  8  o'clock 
evening. 

Bristol,  Sept.  18.  To  Ratcliff  church,  supposed  to  be  the  first 
in  point  of  elegance  and  magnitude  of  all  the  parish  churches  in 
England.  It  has  not  in  its  construction  one  nail  or  piece  of  iron, 
being  built  and  supported  by  stone  and  marble  only.  It  consists  of 
three  aisles,  besides  two  projections  which  give  it  the  form  of  a 
cross; — in  one  stands  a  great  font,  and  in  the  other  several  funeral 
monuments.  Over  the  altar  are  placed  three  masterly  paintings  by 
Hogarth,  on  the  subject  of  the  burial,  resurrection,  and  ascension ; 
for  which  he  received  a  thousand  pounds. 

In  this  church  lies  buried  Admiral  Penn,  with  an  inscription 
recounting  his  exploits  on  a  pillar ;  and  suspended  on  the  same  pillar 
below  are  his  military  garb,  sword,  cuirass,  helmet,  gloves,  etc. 
This  gentleman's  services  were  rewarded  by  the  royal  grant  of  Penn 
sylvania  to  his  son  William  Penn,  the  founder  of  that  province. 

Took  tea  and  passed  the  evening  with  Mr.  Eveleigh,  a  native 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  educated  at  Harvard  College,  three 
or  four  years  after  me,  who  on  hearing  my  name  recollected  it, 
having  been  schooled  at  Cambridge  under  Master  Coolidge  and 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  77 

boarded  at  the  President's  house.     He  and  his  family  are  hearty  in 
the  cause  of  America. 

Sept.  19.  Accompanied  Mr.  Bourne,  one  of  my  countrymen, 
to  the  crown-glass  manufactory,  where  the  whole  process  was 
shown. — On  'change  met  my  countryman  Mr.  Joseph  Waldo, 
who  procured  tickets  for  our  admission  to  Mr.  Gouldney's  grotto  at 
Clifton,  with  whom,  Francis  Waldo,  and  Capt.  Aldredge,  (brother 
of  the  late  Col.  Bradstreet's  lady,  and  born  in  Nova  Scotia,)  we 
proceeded  over  Brandon  hill,  the  summit  whereof  yields  the  most 
ravishing  view  that  imagination  can  form,  having  a  large  portion 
of  the  city  under  foot ;  and  a  finely  cultivated  country  for  an 
amazing  extent  has  the  appearance  of  a  continued  village,  inter 
spersed  with  towns  and  seats ;  the  prospect  enlivened  with  live 
hedges,  lofty  trees,  Dumday  tower,  Kingwood,  and  the  river  Avon, 
running  through  the  city  and  joined  with  another  called  the  Frome, 
over  both  which  are  bridges;  on  the  latter  are  the  larger  ships, 
and  on  the  former  only  smaller  craft.  Just  as  we  arrived  at  the 
gates,  there  passed  by  in  his  solitary  walk,  whom  accident  threw 
in  our  way,  a  countryman,  Mr.  Harrison  Gray,  son  of  our  late 
(Massachusetts)  treasurer,  who,  with  his  wife,  had  for  a  season  left 
London  and  retired  to  this  place,  and  whom  T  was  glad  to  see. 
Parting  at  the  gate,  we  were  soon  admitted,  and,  attended  by  the 
gardener,  were  conducted  through  the  gravel-walks,  kept  in  the 
nicest  order,  the  whole  bearing  the  appearance  of  care  and  indus 
try  ;  it  is  on  a  moderate  scale,  but  well  filled  with  orange  and 
lemon  trees,  etc.,  and  a  small  piece  of  water  abounding  in  gold  and 
silver  fish,  supplied  from  a  natural  fountain  so  lofty  that  a  fire- 
engine  is  erected  at  one  end  of  the  terrace ;  the  stream  runs  under 
ground  for  a  distance  and  discharges  itself  through  an  urn,  on  which 
a  Neptune  rests  with  his  trident.  The  ground  between  it  and  the 
engine  is  made  rough,  scraggy,  and  woody,  to  resemble  a  wilder 
ness,  which  I  passed  going  through  the  main  walk.  We  arrived 
at  the  door  of  the  grotto,  situated  under  the  terrace ;  the  object 
that  presented  itself  to  our  view  was  a  lion  in  a  sitting  posture, 
and  behind,  in  a  dark  cave,  a  lioness,  the  latter  so  like  life  that  I 
could  hardly  persuade  myself  to  the  contrary.  The  form  of  ihe 
grotto  is  octangular,  its  roof  a  semicircle,  having  a  dome  with  a 
round  window  in  the  centre  ;  the  diameter  about  twenty  feet  on  each 


78  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

side,  from  the  door  in  front  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  in  which  the 
lioness  is  sitting  ;  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  entrance  the  roof  is 
supported  by  pillars  ;  covered  as  its  roof  and  sides  are  with  a  vari 
ety  of  shells,  stones,  spars,  petrifactions,  etc.,  the  mountains,  even 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  and  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  seem  to  have 
been  pillaged  to  furnish  materials  to  adorn  this  curious  subterrane 
ous  recess.  On  the  left  hand,  beyond  the  dome  and  under  a  rough, 
cragged  stone  arch,  is  a  small  quadi  angular  stone  basin  of  water 
supplied  by  small  streams,  issuing  through  almost  imperceptible 
channels,  over  which,  in  a  lying  posture,  is  a  female  deity.  On 
the  other  hand  stands  a  door,  the  light  and  shade  of  which  is  so 
artfully  painted  that  it  deceived  the  company,  who  thought  it  a 
passage  into  the  garden  on  a  flight  of  stairs;  the  most  perfect  de 
ception  I  ever  saw.  On  the  door  was  a  miniature  of  a  female  face 
with  a  seemingly  broken  glass  covering  it,  in  the  same  style  and 
manner,  and  producing  the  like  effect.  From  hence  we  ascended 
the  terrace-walk  four  hundred  feet  in  length,  the  front  of  the  gar 
den  raised  forty  feet  supported  by  a  brick  wall;  the  rear  bounded 
by  a  border  of  flowers,  and  behind  a  shrubbeiy  of  lofty  trees.  On 
the  right  is  an  octangular  structure  ending  in  a  dome  eighteen  feet 
in  diameter,  with  seats  all  round,  and  having  as  many  windows  as 
it  has  sides,  which  affords  as  many  prospects,  except  on  the  side  of 
the  garden,  where  they  are  darkened,  yielding  three  delightful 
perspectives. 

Leaving  this  charming  spot  and  Clifton,  I  bade  adieu  to  my 
companions,  and  after  dinner  I  departed  for  Shepton- Mallet,  and 
on  my  arrival  met  my  friend  and  countryman  Mr.  Isaac  Smith ; 
thus  ends  my  ramble  for  a  few  weeks. 

Shepton  Mallet,  Sept.  20.  Walked  to  the  market-cross,  an  open 
structure  supported  by  Gothic  arches  and  pillars,  and  ornamented 
in  front  by  a  few  mutilated  statues,  but  whether  of  saints  or  heroes 
of  antiquity,  1  know  not.  A  few  gentlemen  of  fortune  live  here, 
but  many  worthy  clothiers;  there  are  two  places  of  worship,  an 
Episcopal  and  a  Presbyterian,  and  the  number  of  inhabitants  is  said 
to  be  seven  thousand.  A  Mr.  Ames  with  whom  I  am  acquainted 
lives  here  on  his  six  hundred  a  year. 

Sept.  23.  Rode  through  Lord  Ilchester's  park,  passing  by 
the  late  Lord  Berkeley's  estate,  and  through  a  vale  to  Lord  Aruri- 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  79 

die's.  One  passes  on  a  flight  of  noble  steps  to  the  centre  door 
letting  into  the  hall ; — the  walls  are  adorned  with  paintings  of 
the  most  celebrated  artists.  There  is  a  cabinet  of  Pope  Sixtus 
Quintus,  which  stands  on  a  mahogany  frame ; — the  front  is  of 
ebony ;  and  amber  pillars,  set  with  sapphires,  emeralds  and  other 
precious  stones,  and  miniatures  of  all  the  Perotti  family  from 
which  he  sprang,  and  elegantly  executed  in  white  alabaster.  In  the 
drawers  are  prints  of  the  principal  royal  and  noble  families  of 
Europe  in  metal  frames. 

In  these  grounds  is  an  airy  cross,  bought  of  the  city  of  Bristol 
and  transported  here;  in  the  Gothic  style, four  stones;  in  each  are 
four  niches  rilled  with  kings  in  their  regalia,  supposed  to  have  been 
benefactors  to  the  city  ;  the  names  in  part  are,  Henry  VI.,  Edward 
IV.,  John,  Charles  I.  and  II.  and  Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  finely 
decorated,  and  in  the  highest  preservation. 

Procured  a  guide  to  attend  us  to  Alfred's  Tower,  which  we 
intended  to  visit  before  taking  leave  of  Stourton.  We  soon  arrived 
at  Irison  Hill  on  whose  summit  stands  the  tower,  and  which  is  said 
to  be  the  spot  on  which  Alfred  erected  his  standard  against  the 
Danes ;  mostly  a  terraced  walk.  The  tower  an  open  triangular 
structure,  the  angles  covered  by  round  towers;  in  one  is  a  flight  of 
221  steps  making  155  in  height;  on  this  is  a  sound  balcony  of  20 
feet  high,  on  the  top  a  kind  of  cross  standing  on  a  globe.  The 
entrance  into  it  is  through  a  Gothic  arched  door — ten  feet  above  is 
a  stone  niche  under  a  finely  ornamented  arch.  In  the  centre  is  a 
Saxon  crown  supported  by  double  Gothic  pillars;  on  each  sidestands 
the  statue  of  Alfred  in  military  habiliments  and  larger  than  life, 
holding  a  sceptre  in  his  right  hand,  his  left  resting  on  a  sword. — 
Below  is  a  tablet,  on  which  is  the  following  : 

IN    MEMORY    OP 

ALFRED    THE    GREAT, 

WHO  ON  THIS  SUMMIT  ERECTED  HIS  STANDARD  AGAINST  DANISH  INVADERS. 

HE  INSTITUTED  JURIES,  ESTABLISHED  A  MILITIA, 

CREATED   AND   EXERTED   A   NAVAL   FORCE; 

A  PHILOSOPHER  AND  A  CHRISTIAN  ; 

THE    FATHER    OP    HIS    PEOPLE, 

THE    FOUNDER   OF    THE    ENGLISH   MONARCHY    AND 
LIB  E  RT  Y, 


80  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

Leaving  this  grateful  monument,  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the 
most  deserving  monarch  England  ever  saw,  I  returned  home. 

Sept.  25.  To  the  Poor  House  to  see  the  spinning-jennies , 
which  of  late  through  the  folly  and  madness  of  the  spinners  and 
weavers  have  been  the  occasion  of  a  riot  in  this  town,  which  a 
party  of  dragoons  were  called  in  to  quell,  who  are  yet  continued  to 
prevent  future  ones;  three  were  killed  and  a  number  wounded,  and 
but  for  the  government  orders  to  avoid  bloodshed,  more  would  have 
been.  These  machines  are  to  twist  the  threads  after  the  first  course 
run  from  the  common  wheels,  which  despatch  about  three  or  four 
times  as  fast  as  by  hand  in  the  customary  way.  They  have  been  in 
use  some  years  in  the  north,  and  a  premium  obtained  for  them  from 
the  Society  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  They  contain  thirty-six  spindles 
turned  by  a  common  axis,  communicating  with  a  wheel  placed 
horizontally. 

Sept.  28.  Walked  with  Mr.  Morgan  over  the  hills  to  the  re 
mains  of  a  Roman-way ;  the  ditch  continues,  although  in  an  im 
perfect  state,  and  carried  over  Mendip  hill,  running  from  north  to 
south,  and  from  shore  to  shore. 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  81 


CHAPTER    III. 

Shepton  Mallet,  Oct.  1.  Rode  to  Bath ; — large  meeting  of  cloth 
iers  from  neighboring  towns  in  Somerset  and  Wiltshire,  to  concert 
measures  to  establish,  if  practicable,  the  use  of  the  spinning-jenny  in 
these  parts,  which  the  weavers  raised  a  mob  to  prevent.  Two  com 
panies  of  dragoons  are  posted  in  this  town  for  security  of  the 
manufacturers,  against  the  infatuated  multitude.  Met  Col.  Salton- 
stall,  who  with  Mr.  Boylston  has  taken  lodgings  here  for  some 
time  past.  Departed  for  Lord  Weymouth's  seat,  called  Longleat ; 
his  grounds  contain  the  whole  parish  of  Horningsham.  Over  the 
entrance  in  front  is  the  date  as  follows:—  "Erected  by  Sir  John 
Thynne,  1569."'  The  front  is  an  addition  to  the  old  structure,  the 
remains  of  a  Carthusian  monastery  standing  round  a  large  square 
court.  Within  are  pictures  of  Henry  VIIL,  Sir  Thomas  Overbury, 
Lord  Strafford,  beheaded  in  the  time  of  Charles  L, — Henry  IV.  of 
France, — Charles  I.  when  Prince  of  Wales,  and  his  brother  James 
n.  when  Duke  of  York,  General  Monck, — Charles  II.  and  his 
Queen,  Archbishop  Juxton, — Mary  Queen  of  Scotts,  Robert  Dudley- 
Earl  of  Leicester,  Lady  Nottingham, — Archbishop  Laud,  Cardinal 
Richelieu, — Sir  Thomas  Graham, — Count  Tekeli  and  lady. 

Oct.  11.  Visited  Glastonbury  Abbey  ruins,  attended  by  a  guide 
named  Thomas,  who  is  as  great  a  curiosity  as  the  ruins ;  for  we 
had  no  sooner  entered  on  the  holy  ground  than  he  doffed  his  bea 
ver  and  hugged  it  under  his  arm,  while  with  a  solemn  tone  and 
manner  indicative  of  unshaken  faith  in  the  legendary  tales  which 
the  folly  of  credulity  and  superstition  have  handed  down,  by  oral 
tradition  as  well  as  books,  through  a  long  succession  of  ages,  he 
began  by  informing  us  of  some  circumstances  relative  to  a  chapel 
standing  entire,  which  I  had  no  wish  to  enter,  nor  do  I  remember 
the  tale.  Proceeding  on  we  approached  the  walls  of  the  chapel 
in  ruins,  but  not  to  prevent  a  perfect  idea  of  the  size ; — making  a 
sudden  stop,  our  guide  told  us  with  a  solemn  voice  that  the  ground 

11 


82  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

we  stood  on  was  twenty-two  feet  above  the  natural  surface,  raised 
by  the  rubbish  from  the  monastery ;  which,  if  true,  is  a  proof  of 
the  immensity  of  the  building,  and  the  uncommon  thickness  of  its 
walls,  the  site  of  which  covers  fifteen  to  twenty  acres.  Descend 
ing  to  the  lower  chapel,  at  present  filled  with  dirt  to  the  capitals 
of  the  pillars,  eight  feet,  this  he  told  us  was  the  spot  where  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  built  a  chapel  of  hurdles  and  boughs  of  trees, 
twenty-three  years  after  the  crucifixion.  In  the  upper  chapel  re 
main  the  niches  and  pedestals  on  which  stood  the  images  of  saints 
of  solid  gold. 

After  hearing  many  tedious  stories  and  incredibilities,  we  pro 
ceeded  to  survey  the  outside,  dormitory,  chapter-house,  etc.  In  the 
centre  of  the  east  end  stood  the  chapel  of  the  first  Saxon  Christian 
king  of  this  island ; — from  whence  through  the  ruins,  at  a  con 
siderable  distance,  is  to  be  seen  the  further  or  western  end  of  the 
double  chapel  we  first  entered ;  both  side  walls  are  standing  up  to 
the  roof,  and  part  of  the  eastern  wall,  under  an  arch  of  eighty  feet 
in  height,  and  fifty  in  width,  entire  all  but  the  crown.  The  sight 
of  this  brought  to  my  mind  the  magnificent  ruins  of  Palmyra, 
although  its  ornaments  were  not  of  such  exquisite  workmanship ; 
these  being  Gothic,  but  highly  finished.  Near  an  angle  at  the 
eastern  end  stands  a  small  room ;  lately  this  was  turned  into  a  cow 
house,  but  not  one  of  the  brutual  intruders  survived  a  year,  as  the 
guide  informed  us  of  his  own  certain  knowledge. 

Within  this  holy  ground  is  the  holy  thorn-tree.  I  had  liberty 
to  pluck  a  branch,  proposing  to  preserve  it  till  my  arrival  in 
America,  (if  it  shall  please  God  to  grant  me  that  favor.)  The 
three  trees  now  standing  blossom  yearly  within  the  Christian  holy- 
days,  which  it  is  the  peculiar  quality  of  this  species  to  do,  without 
supposing  a  miracle;  but  the  craft  of  these  reverend  impostors 
knew  very  well  how  to  turn  a  natural  event  into  something  mira 
culous,  and  the  superstitious  folly  and  ignorance  of  the  multitude 
for  a  long  course  of  ages  has  confirmed  them  in  the  same  ground 
less  notions. 

We  arrived  soon  at  a  pleasant  road,  having  in  view  extensive 
prospects  of  waste  lands,  called  moors ;  ascending  a  lofty  ridge  on 
the  left,  lay  that  called  King's  Sedgemoor,  remarkable  for  the  de 
feat  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  by  his  uncle,  King  James  the  Second. 


1776.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  83 

From  hence,  on  one  of  these  hills,  is  to  be  seen  the  obelisk  erected  to 
the  memory  of  the  late  Sir  William  Pynsent  by  the  Earl  of  Chatham ; 
a  cheap  purchase  of  an  estate  of  eighty  thousand  pounds,  besides 
ten  thousand  in  money,  left  to  a  man  the  testator  never  saw.  The 
stage  from  Glastonbury  to  Bridgewater  throughout  extremely  pleas 
ant;  the  distance  of  fifteen  miles  we  passed  in  an  hour  and  a  half; 
thence  to  Enmore  Castle  about  four  miles,  a  seat  of  the  Earl  of 
Egmont,  which  is  built  in  the  form  of  the  ancient  baronial  castles. 
Leaving  this  imitation  of  old  English  architecture,  we  rode  to  Castle 
inn,  Taunton,  where  we  lodged  :  next  day  to  Sidmouth. 

Sidmouthj  Oct.  13.  Attended  worship  at  my  friend  Mr.  Isaac 
Smith's,  who  preached  from  these  words,  "  The  Lord  is  myportion" 
which  was  the  last  sermon  he  preached  in  America  :  the  congre 
gation  the  largest  I  had  known  since  my  residence  here. 

Oct.  17.  Rode  to  Slade,  the  seat  of  a  Mr.  Lee,  one  of  Mr. 
Smith's  hearers,  who  purchased  of  the  father  of  the  famous  Dr. 
Shebbeare,  one  of  the  writers  for  the  court  against  America.  Took 
a  stroll  to  the  cliffs  on  the  seaside,  yielding  a  delightful  prospect. 

Oct.  18.  Rode  out  to  view  an  ancient  encampment,  supposed 
Danish,  and  is  called  Hembury,  about  fourteen  miles.  Fording  the 
gentle  stream  of  Syd,  we  pursued  our  course  over  Cove  Hill,  so 
called,  being  a  lofty  range,  affording  on  each  side  very  pleasant 
views  of  a  finely  improved  country ;  here  we  met  a  number  of 
huntsmen  on  foot,  with  their  long  poles  and  a  great  number  of 
dogs,  at  default,  unable  to  recover  the  track  of  the  hare,  which  had 
found  means  to  elude  the  dogs'  scent.  A  little  beyond  the  village 
of  Burcherton  is  the  seat  of  the  well-known  Admiral  Graves,  whose 
base,  unworthy  conduct  in  America  has  justly  brought  the  curses 
of  the  people  on  his  head,  displeased  his  sovereign  and  the  ministry, 
and  rendered  himself  deservedly  the  contempt  of  all.  His  house  is 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  Hembury  fort  stands.  This  fort  is 
situated  on  the  extremity  of  a  lofty  ridge  of  hills,  in  a  parish  of  the 
same  name,  four  miles  north  of  Honiton,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  Danish  encampment,  (formed  in  one  of  their  incursions, 
about  a  thousand  years  ago,)  from  its  roundish  form,  the  Roman 
being  all  angular ;  there  are  many  such  in  these  parts,  though  few 
so  entire.  Its  form  is  a  very  long  oval ;  and  measures,  from  the 
low  parapet  or  line  of  raised  earth  on  the  northeasterly  quarter  at 


84  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

its  further  end,  to  the  edge  or  brow  of  the  ditch  at  the  southwest 
erly,  (in  which  direction  it  runs  exclusive  of  the  ditches  athwart 
the  hill,  to  defend  or  secure  the  centre  enclosure,)  about  a  thousand 
feet ;  and  the  width  of  the  hill  on  its  summit  on  which  the  encamp 
ment  stands,  with  the  middle  included,  is  about  a  hundred  feet.  It 
stands  very  high,  and  commands  a  view  of  the  vales  on  each  side  to 
a  great  extent.  From  the  foot  of  the  hill  in  front,  for  a  considera 
ble  distance  on  either  side,  it  is  of  a  quick  ascent ;  but  from  the 
foot  of  the  hill  in  front  there  is  an  easy  slope,  as  regular  as  a  gla 
cis,  although  of  ten  times  its  length  and  breadth ;  the  rest  of  this 
long  range,  in  a  circular  form,  rises  from  the  plains  below  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  discern,  regularly  and  sudden,  rendering  the  approach 
difficult,  except  from  the  summit,  which  is  continued  to  a  great 
extent.  There  are  three  fosses  carried  nine  feet  round  the  encamp 
ment,  the  last  deeper  and  wider  than  the  rest ;  the  slope  is  about 
sixty  feet.  The  earth  wall,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  contains  fifteen 
to  twenty  acres.  Here  may  be  traced  the  foundations  of  one  or 
two  buildings,  which  spot  I  presume  was  the  officers'  tents,  the 
place  of  arms  and  magazine.  The  avenue  on  the  south  side,  for 
there  is  but  one,  communicates  with  a  walk  running  the  whole 
width  of  the  hill,  and  is  bounded  by  a  parapet  of  raised  earth,  at 
twenty  feet  from  the  entrance  into  the  middle  inclosure ;  between 
this  and  the  brow  of  the  hill  at  the  southwest,  is,  I  suppose,  the 
encampment  of  the  army,  and  here  may  be  seen  the  effects  of  la 
bor;  but  what  were  the  works,  enough  does  not  remain  to  enable 
us  to  judge.  Having  surveyed  these  remains  of  ancient  military 
defence,  we  descended  by  the  common  road,  and  arrived  at  home 
in  about  three  hours. 

Oct.  20.  Mr.  Samuel  Follett  drank  tea  with  us;  he  is  an  old 
Newfoundland  trader,  was  in  New  England  in  1726,  and  built  a 
ship  at  Charlestown. 

Exeter,  Oct.  26.  In  the  Bristol  Gazette  is  the  following : 
u  Gen.  Howe  had  landed  the  British  army  on  the  island  of  New- 
York  on  the  15th  September ;  the  provincials  had  fled  from  the 
city,  with  great  precipitation  and  much  loss,  towards  Kingsbridge, 
where  they  were  entrenched  to  the  number  of  twenty  thousand. 
Gen.  Howe,  having  taken  possession  of  New-York,  was  encamped 
with  his  army  of  twenty-two  thousand  within  cannon-shot  of  the 


1776.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  85 

Americans,  and  it  was  hourly  expected  he  would  make  a  grand 
attack  upon  them."  This  intelligence  came  by  the  Hanover 
Planter  to  Bristol,  who  spoke  with  the  Galatea,  Capt.  Jordan,  who 
left  New-York  the  17th  of  September.  The  unaccountable  story 
of  abandoning  New-York,  without  a  formal  attack  made  on  it, 
needs  explanation ;  no  doubt  there  were  justifiable  reasons  for  it. 

Oct.  29.  A  busy  week  here,  many  persons  daily  arriving  from 
all  quarters,  at  the  instance  and  charge  of  the  competitors  Baring 
and  Cholwich,  who  are  up  for  the  representation  of  this  city  in  par 
liament  in  room  of  Mr.  Waters.  The  hands  of  the  city  officers  are 
fully  occupied  in  making  out  freedoms  to  those  who  have  a  right  to 
it.  The  dispute  runs  high,  "  Cholwich  forever"  momently  bawled ; 
"  Baring9'  not  so  often,  though  many  think  he  may  carry  his  election ; 
papers  are  printed  and  public  houses  kept  open  by  both,  at  great 
expense.  The  joke  would  be  complete  should  an  unthought-of 
rival  step  in  and  succeed. 

Oct.  30.  Rode  out  to  Lord  Courtnay's  Belvidere,  (about  seven 
miles,)  a  triangular  structure  of  Portland  stone ;  from  the  top  is  an 
extensive  prospect,  having  on  one  side  Exeter, Topsham,  and  several 
seats ;  on  the  other,  Lympstone,Exmouth,  Star  Cross,  Lord  Courtnay's 
seat,  Gov.  Pawke's,  a  nabob  late  of  Madras,  the  river  Exe  from  near 
its  mouth,  and  vessels  in  the  channel,  and,  what  is  more  curious, 
the  house  wherein  the  great  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  born  and  lived, 
situated  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  Belvidere. 

Oct.  31.  Mr.  Shepard  tells  me  there  is  great  danger  of  a 
French  war;  may  the  nation  be  preserved  from  this  dreadful 
calamity. 

TO  THE  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL,  BROMPTON-ROW,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Oct.  31,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

By  a  letter  from  Mr.  Danforth  I  was  informed  some  of  my 
countrymen  were  about  to  apply  to  the  administration  for  relief. — 
As  my  residence  has  been  much  longer  than  the  most,  and  the  sud 
denness  of  my  departure  from  home  rendering  it  morally  impossible 
for  me  to  become  possessed  of  much  money,  and  my  pretensions,  for 
aught  I  know,  being  as  good  as  any  and  better  than  many,  I 
presume  I  shall  not  be  the  only  exile  left  in  a  forlorn  condition  if 


86  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

any  provision  be  made ;  and  if  never  made,  forlorn  I  shall  truly 
be,  my  finances  every  day  very  sensibly  lessening.  Had  I  received 
Mr.  Deberdt's  letter  in  time  I  should  have  returned  to  London,  but 
it  was  otherwise ;  and  if  my  presence  now  can  be  dispensed  with, 
it  will  be  more  agreeable,  as  I  live  pleasantly  enough  among  a  few 
acquaintances,  at  the  rate  of  twenty  guineas  a  year,  in  a  state  of 
rigid  economy  that  I  never  before  was  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  putting  in  practice. 

In  my  answer  to  Mr.  Deberdt,  I  referred  him  to  you,  whose 
friendship  on  this  occasion  I  doubted  not,  nor  need  I  now  repeat  my 
request  of  your  assistance  if  that  shall  be  necessary. 

With  great  regard,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

Nov.  L  I  was  informed  that  a  messenger  from  General  Howe 
had  just  passed  through  the  city,  with  advice  that  the  provincial 
entrenchments,  containing  nine  thousand  men  from  New- York, 
were  forced,  General  Washington  wounded  and  taken,  and  ten 
thousand  men  on  both  sides  killed  j  some  other  circumstances  are 
brought,  but  not  to  be  divulged  till  six  hours  after  the  messenger's 
departure  from  Exeter.  Should  this  news  prove  true,  I  wish  it 
may  not  puff  the  British  general  with  pride,  and  fill  him  with  false 
notions  of  the  unequalled  prowess  and  invincibility  of  the  British 
troops,  nor  indispose  him  to  offer  moderate  terms ;  and  I  trust  con 
gress  may  be  willing  to  prevent  further  effusion  of  blood  and  destruc 
tion  of  property  by  hearkening  to  reasonable  proposals,  which  1 
hope  the  House  have  authority  to  make. 

Nov.  2.  It  is  obvious  the  government  is  apprehensive  of 
a  rupture,  saying,  "  it  is  expedient  we  should  be  in  a  respectable 
state  of  defence."  The  truth  is  there  have  been  some  discouraging 
accounts  from  France  for  this  week  past,  respecting  the  intentions 
of  that  court  to  assist  the  colonies,  and  advices  from  Spain  say 
their  ports  are  declared  open  to  the  English  colonists ;  upon  these 
events  press-warrants  are  dispersed  through  this  kingdom,  and  eight 
hundred  were  taken  on  the  Thames  in  one  day  into  the  service, 
and  five  pounds  per  man  are  offered  for  able-bodied  sailors.  The 
report  of  yesterday  is  contradicted  in  part  \  Gen.  Washington  is 
not  taken,  but  six  thousand  Americans,  and  but  two  thousand 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  87 

British.  This  wants  confirmation.  It  is  also  added  that  part  of  the 
provincials  only  were  engaged — a  lame  account.  The  fears  of  some 
and  the  hopes  of  others  dispose  the  people  to  the  belief  of  any 
improbabilities,  nay,  self-evident  falsehoods. 

Nov.  6.  The  important  day  has  at  length  arrived,  the  election 
of  a  member  to  parliament ;  the  city  alive,  except  myself,  who  am 
dead  to  curiosity.  Interest  and  the  hope  of  victory  have  inspired 
all  here  with  ardor.  It  is  amusing  to  see  how  warmly  their  passions 
are  engaged. 

Read  Sharp's  Travels  in  Italy ;  entertaining  enough  ;  his  style 
not  above  mediocrity;  his  picture  of  the  country,  if  just,  must  render 
his  own  more  dear  to  those  who  know  how  to  make  a  just  estimate 
of  all  the  valuable  enjoyments  of  life.  In  reading  the  above  I  learn 
that  in  the  state  of  Florence  are  nearly  twenty-seven  thousand  of  the 
holy  order,  or  if  you  please,  the  ecclesiastical  troops  are  under  a 
solemn  vow  of  obedience  to  a  foreign  potentate ;  these  with  their 
connections,  relations  and  dependencies,  render  the  authority  of  the 
civil  power  extremely  precarious  in  case  they  unite  with  a  discon 
tented  party. 

Amongst  other  instances  of  management  in  electioneering, 
is  the  practice  of  closeting  and  locking  up,  beds  being  provided  in 
secure  apartments  to  prevent  the  voters  being  spirited  away  to  the 
other  side,  of  which  there  have  been  some  instances,  after  the  ex 
pense  of  fetching  them  in  from  distant  parts. — To  prevent  confu 
sion  and  injustice,  in  the  present  election  it  is  agreed  to  vote  by 
tallies,  that  is,  each  candidate  to  present  by  turns  a  certain  num 
ber,  say  ten  or  twenty.  The  majority  of  the  city  chamber  is  for 
Cholwich ;  the  church  for  Baring,  whose  managers  are  the  most 
opulent,  active  and  knowing  :  the  contest  fierce,  some  wounds  and 
broken  heads,  but  no  deaths  ;  enough  to  convince  me  of  the  de 
plorable  venality  of  the  nation,  and  the  high  expectations  derivable 
from  a  seat  in  that  assembly  of  untutored,  inexperienced  youths, 
(for  half,  I  believe,  have  not  seen  thirty,)  called  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  or  the  great  council  of  the  nation.  The  number  of 
voters  in  this  city  is  about  fourteen  hundred  j  and  I  am  told  two 
hundred  of  the  most  solid,  judicious  and  prudent,  thinking  neither 
of  the  candidates  suitable,  decline  any  concern,  it  being  immaterial 
to  them  whether  Baring  or  Cholwich  be  the  tool  of  administration. 


88  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

The  charge  on  each  side,  five  thousand  pounds,  is'doubtless  intend 
ed  to  be  reimbursed  from  the  national  fund,  for  (not  their  services 
but)  their  votes  !  Would  to  God  this  great  source  of  ministerial 
power  and  influence,  and  the  increasing  cause  of  our  public  evils, 
the  national  debt,  was  reduced  to  a  moderate  sum :  a  sponge  is 
dreadful  in  thought,  and  would  be  the  ruin  of  some  millions  of  in 
nocent  widows  and  orphans ;  may  that  be  prevented  by  a  wise  and 
prudent  expedient,  if  within  the  compass  of  human  knowledge  and 
power.  May  a  public  and  disinterested  spirit  spring  up  and  yet  be 
the  stability  of  our  times. 

JVbu.  8.  By  the  Gazette  the  wonderful  account  brought 
from  America  is,  as  usual,  greatly  diminished  respecting  the  valor 
and  bravery  of  one  side,  number  of  slain,  etc.  on  the  other ;  6000 
provincials  and  2000  regulars  are  reduced  to  400  provincials  and 
15  regulars  ! !  However,  by  the  same  intelligence,  it  seems  one 
quarter  of  New- York  is  burnt,  and  some  lurkers  menace  the  de 
struction  of  the  whole  city,  to  prevent  which  Gen.  Howe  is  using 
assiduous  endeavors  to  discover  these  incendiaries  and  prevent  the 
intended  conflagration. 

Nov.  9.  Walked  out  to  the  Guildhall  to  see  the  conclusion  of 
the  poll  ended  by  the  sheriff's  declaring  Mr.  Baring  duly  elected, 
the  excess  being  one  hundred  and  one  votes.  The  unsuccessful 
candidate,  Mr.  Cholwich,  supported  by  the  city  chamber,  went 
home  to  put  as  good  a  face  on  their  disappointment  as  they  could, 
amidst  loud  huzzas,  flags  displayed,  having  various  devices,  of 
which  two  were  as  follows : — the  one  divided  into  four  compart 
ments,  between  each  half  the  word  " Cholwich"  and  in  the  com 
partments  "  TIO  bribery  ;"  the  other  was  the  coat  armor  of  his 
father-in-law,  (that  is  to  be.)  Sir  John  Duntze,  properly  embla 
zoned,  and  in  a  scroll  underneath  these  words,  "free  and  indepen 
dent"  Mr.  Baring,  as  is  usual,  was  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
crowd,  said  to  be  ten  thousand,  huzzaing,  clapping  hands,  etc.  The 
house  he  adjourned  to  was  in  the  yard  next  to  ours,  and  to  honor 
him  variegated  lamps  were  suspended  in  front,  forming  these 
words,  "  Baring  forever"  surmounted  by  a  crown.  The  evening 
closed  with  a  grand  display  of  fireworks. 

Nov.  11.  Mr.  Baring's  friends  wear  favors  of  blue  and 
purple  ribbons,  and  some  ladies  wear  an  emblematical  device  in 


1776.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  89 

allusion  to  the  successful  candidate's  name,  being  a  bear  with  a  ring 
in  his  nose,  enamelled  pendant  on  a  blue  ribbon.  The  day  was 
ushered  in  by  music  and  a  procession,  with  flags  inscribed  "  Baring 
and  Trade"  The  inhabitants  of  this  city  appear  proud,  unsocial 
and  solitary,  neither  conversible  nor  hospitable  ;  but  a  few  uncere 
monious,  hearty  friends  will  render  any  place  tolerable,  and  such 
for  that  reason  is  this  city  for  the  present. 

Nov.  26.  A  report  prevails  that  Gen.  Burgoyne  has  destroyed 
all  the  provincial  forces  on  the  lake. 

The  later  advice  is,  that  Gen.  Burgoyne  became  master  of  the 
lake  by  taking,  burning  and  destroying  the  naval  force  on  the 
12th  ult. 

Dec.  3.  This  day  is  published  a  single  sheet  letter  from  a 
master  of  a  transport,  giving  account  of  the  defeat  of  provincials 
at  Kingsbridge  by  Gen.  Howe,  having  forced  the  entrenchments, 
killing,  wounding  and  taking  eight  thousand  with  a  loss  of  two 
thousand  only,  on  the  17th  October ;  the  remainder  supposed  to 
be  fled  to  Philadelphia. 

Sunday,  Dec.  8.  Mr.  Towgood  preached  an  excellent  discourse, 
from  Isaiah  Ivii.  15.  In  his  prayer  the  most  just  and  proper  ex 
pression  for  the  king  and  royal  family,  and  all  in  authority,  both  as 
ministers  of  state  and  executive  officers ;  and  although  a  warm 
and  hearty  advocate  for  America,  and  her  claims  of  exemption 
from  British  legislation,  right  of  taxation,  yet  moderate  and  dutiful 
enough  for  me,  who  am  far  removed  from  wishing  its  entire  inde 
pendence  ;  for  it  is  my  firm  belief  it  would  sooner  bring  on  oppres 
sion  and  tyranny  there  than  the  former  right  allowed  in  its  full 
extent.  May  it  please  God  to  prevent  both ;  may  the  unreason 
able  and  baneful  wishes  and  attempts  of  all  violent  men  be 
disappointed. 

Dec.  13.  The  state  fast,  appointed  by  the  king's  proclamation, 
on  account  of  the  American  war ;  Bishop  Keppel  preached  from 
Deut.  xxxiii.  27,  "  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,"  etc.,  a  season 
able  and  candid  discourse ;  he  calls  this  "  a  civil  war"  and  the 
Americans  "  our  unhappy  fellow-subjects :"  attempted  no  justifica 
tion  of  the  measures  of  government.  I  was  pleased  with  his 
candor  and  judgment. 

Dec.  18.  By  a  Mr.  Lloyd  of  the  20th  regiment,  just  arrived  in 

12 


90  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

the  Lord  Howe  frigate  from  Quebec,  and  who  was  on  the  lake 
with  Burgoyne  and  Carleton,  a  report  is  brought  that  a  merchant 
man  met  the  Active  frigate  at  sea,  and  learned  that  Gen.  Wash 
ington  had  abandoned  the  lines  at  Kingsbridge,  left  his  cannon  and 
stores,  and  that  his  army  is  mouldered  away;  that  New-York, 
New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  have  deserted  the  union, 
and  declared  for  government ;  speaks  of  the  Yankees,  as  he  is 
pleased  to  call  them,  in  the  most  contemptuous  terms,  as  cowards, 
poltroons,  cruel,  and  possessing  every  bad  quality  the  depraved 
heart  can  be  cursed  with ;  and  says  the  regulars  at  Trois-Rivieres 
took  five  hundred  prisoners,  killed  one  hundred,  and  lost  only 
three  men,  who  were  killed  by  Yankees,  who  had  got  upon  trees 
and  fired  down  on  them. 

It  is  my  earnest  wish  the  despised  Americans  may  convince  these 
conceited  islanders,  that  without  regular  standing  armies  our  conti 
nent  can  furnish  brave  soldiers  and  judicious  and  expert  command 
ers,  by  some  knock-down,  irrefragable  argument ;  for  then,  and  not 
till  then,  may  we  expect  generous  or  fair  treatment.  It  piques  my 
pride,  I  confess,  to  hear  us  called  "  our  colonies,  our  plantations" 
in  such  terms  and  with  such  airs  as  if  our  property  and  persons 
were  absolutely  theirs,  like  the  "  villains"  and  their  cottages  in  the 
old  feudal  system,  so  long  since  abolished,  though  the  spirit  or 
leaven  is  not  totally  gone,  it  seems. 

TO  MR.  GEORGE  RUSSELL,  AT  MOSELEY  WAKE  GREEN, 
NEAR  BIRMINGHAM, 

Exeter,  December,  20,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  delayed  answering  you  till  this  time  from  an  hourly  ex 
pectation  of  hearing  some  important  advices  from  New-York  ;  but 
in  this  I  have  been  hitherto  mistaken,  the  season  having  too  far 
advanced  to  expect  any  military  achievements  by  the  British  forces, 
and  the  Americans  you  know  have  formed  no  active  plan  of  opera 
tion  by  land ;  confining  their  views  of  activity  to  the  depredatory 
naval  department.  As  to  a  treaty,  I  am  without  the  smallest  hopes 
of  its  taking  place  at  present ;  the  Americans  do  not  despair  of 
maintaining  their  independence,  and  the  court,  I  am  told,  has  not 
given  up  its  view  of  laying  America  at  its  feet,  for  such  is  and  has 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  91 

been  the  court  language,  and  the  intention  to  force  her  to  submit 
to  the  unconditional  authority  of  parliament  ; — however,  should 
Gen.  Washington  be  beaten  out  of  his  entrenchments,  it  would  be 
but  one  advantage  out  of  a  score  that  must  be  gained  to  make 
them  "  lower  their  topsails."  The  Americans  are  not  without 
resources,  whatever  may  be  thought  on  that  subject  in  England. 

Among  others  France  and  Spain  are  no  idle  lookers  on;  resent 
ment  as  well  as  political  reasons  influence  them  to  keep  the  tram 
mels  on  the  neck  of  our  court  till  a  favorable  opportunity  may 
offer  to  strike  a  blow  which  shall  effectually  humble  the  pride  of 
Great  Britain,  perhaps  destroy  her  independence,  or  at  best  reduce 
her  to  a  state  of  as  little  importance  in  the  grand  political  balance 
of  Europe  as  Portugal  or  Genoa  now  holds ;  and  that  is  the  general 
opinion  here  whatever  may  be  the  opinion  elsewhere.     As  to  the 
objects  of  the  impolicy  of  our  court,  we  know  from  history  that 
statesmen  to  gain  a  present  purpose  sometimes  disregard  the  true 
interests   and  honor  of  the  nation  and  all  distant  consequences. 
The  King  of  Spain  is  England's  avowed  enemy  ;  the  court  owes 
this  country  a  grudge  for  her  success  against  her  commerce  and 
garrisons  last  war ;  nor  does  France  love  her  better;  and  ever  since 
her  open  opposition  to  the  ambitious  views  of  that  court  in  the 
beginning  of  Louis  XlVth's  reign,  who  aimed  at  universal  empire, 
has  looked  on    her  rising  greatness  with  a  jealous,  not  to  say 
envious  eye.     It  is  no  proof  of  want  of  bravery  in  the  Americans' 
not  to  face  the  regulars;  many  good  reasons  may  be  assigned  to 
justify  their  conduct,  and  though  it  be  the  ground  of  much  reproach 
here,  I  see  in  it  the  effect  of  sound  judgment — that  little  depend 
ence  can  be  placed  on  newly  raised  troops  is  well  known  the  world' 
over.     On  account  of  the  amazing  expense  with-  which  Great 
Britain  carries  on  a  land  war  in  America,  unless  she  can  command 
the  troops  of  Europe  and  the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  men  and  money 
must  in  a  few  campaigns  be  wanting  ;  with  regard  to  the  insidious 
offers  made  to  America,  as  the  warm  partisans  against  the  court 
call  them,  I  pretend  not  to  such  acquaintance  with  court  measures 
to  determine  about  it ;  if  they  be  so,  the  greater  is  the  pity.     They 
may  however,  if  that  should  be  the  case,,  be  taken  in  the  snares 
laid  for  others,  and  if  good  be  derived  from  evi^thanks  to  an  over 
ruling  Providence,  who  sometimes  makes  itself  subservient  to  the 


92  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1776. 

happiness  of  society.  That  more  treasure  must  be  consumed  and 
more  blood  spilled  before  this  impolitic,  destructive  and  fatal  war 
is  ended,  will,  I  trust,  not  prove  a  melancholy  truth. 

The  accounts  of  the  burning  of  the  city  of  New-York  in  the 
Gazette,  are  full,  explicit  and  intelligible;  more  than  one  fourth  is 
destroyed,  beginning  at  the  fort  and  all  along  the  Broadway, 
taking  in  the  college,  etc. ;  and  that  it  was  fired  by  some  northern 
man,  is  undoubted.  A  Mr.  Smith,  son  of  a  clergyman  of  Wey- 
mouth  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  whom  and  whose  family  I  knew  very 
well,  was  concerned,  taken,  and  I  believe  executed  on  due  proof. 
I  remain,  truly  yours, 

S.  CHRWEN. 

Exeter,  Dec.  21.  I  am  informed  that  by  a  letter  from  an  offi 
cer  of  character,  Arnold  and  the  provincials  are  represented  as 
behaving  with  great  intrepidity  and  good  conduct ;  and  their  defeat 
was  owing  to  the  superior  weight  of  metal  on  the  side  of  their 
enemies.  I  am  rejoiced  to  find  justice  done  my  countrymen,  and 
that  there  are  those  who  can  look  through  the  vista  of  party,  see 
truth  and  speak  it.  The  news  of  the  defeat  of  General  Washing 
ton  at  Kingsbridge  is  confirmed. 

Dec.  22,  The  above  defeat  is  not  very  important,  save  the  loss 
of  cannon ;  few  prisoners  taken,  fewer  killed,  the  retreat  not  defi 
cient  in  military  skill  on  the  side  of  the  provincials,  nor  much  to 
the  reputation  of  the  British  general ;  a  rencounter  not  badly  nor 
unsuccessfully  conducted  on  the  American  side. 

Dec.  23.  The  unimportant,  insignificant,  fribbling  governor 
of  Virginia  is  come  back  to  England. 

Dec.  26.  Lord  Barrington  in  his  private  judgment  condemns 
the  present  war  as  unjust,  and  will  prove  ineffectual,  but  votes  with 
government,  as  a  minister  of  state. 

TO  THE  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL. 

Exeter,  Dec.  31,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

My  little  bark  is  in  imminent  hazard  of  being  stranded  unless 
the  wind  shifts  quickly,  or  some  friendly  boat  appears  for  its  relief. 
In  plain  English,  my  purse  is  nearly  empty; — which  circumstance 


1776.]  JOURNALANDLETTERS.  93 

has  of  late  frequently  reminded  me  of  an  emblematical  device  in  the 
beginning  of  Fuller's  History  of  the  Holy  Wars,  wherein  on  the 
right  is  a  purse  distended  with  gold  and  standing  upright,  on  the 
left  the  same  turned  upside  down,  in  a  lank  condition,  emptied 
wholly  of  its  contents,  with  these  words  under  the  former,  "  we  went 
out  full"  and  under  the  latter,  "  ye  returned  empty"  I  do  not 
know  but  I  am  departed  from  my  country,  family  and  friends,  on 
as  foolish  and  fantastic  grounds  as  the  misguided  devotees  of  that 
time  did  to  rescue  the  Holy  Land  from  infidels,  though  on  opposite 
principles,  I  confess;  they  to  fight,  I  to  avoid  fighting.  I  now  be 
gin  to  tremble  lest  the  same  fate  awaits  me  that  befell  them.  I 
dislike  the  motives  of  the  chief  agents  in  America,  and  their  whole 
system  from  its  first  small  beginnings  to  its  full  monstrous  growth 
of  independency ;  and  I  trust  from  a  very  just  motive,  love  of  my 
country  ;  which  this  place  I  am  convinced  has  no  tendency  to  pro 
mote  the  welfare  of.  But  what  of  that  ?  It  is  my  duty,  and  sure 
the  state  is  not  to  reward  the'loyalty  of  every  subject ;  the  court  in 
this  case  would  have  more  than  enough  to  do  to  satisfy  the  demands 
of  all  claimants. 

I  cannot  foresee  what  I  may  hereafter  do,  but  easily  that  I  must 
suffer  hunger  and  nakedness  in  the  comfortless  mansions  of  the 
wretched.  These  ideas  I  have  not  been  accustomed  to  associate. 
Seneca  and  many  moral  writers,  heathen  as  well  as  Christian,  with 
all  the  fathers  of  the  church,  luxuriating  in  the  midst  of  plenty, 
have  furnished  the  world  with  elaborate,  entertaining,  and  edifying 
treatises  on  contentment,  and  the  duty  of  submission  and  resigna 
tion  under  pain,  sickness,  and  poverty  with  her  long  train  of  hor 
rors,  and  really  they  are  amusing  to  a  mind  at  ease  and  free  from 
the  apprehensions  of  suffering,  and  make  a  pretty  figure  on  paper ; 
but  book  philosophy  and  practical  philosophy  differ  from  each  other 
widely.  Let  Seneca  and  the  long  list  of  moralists  be  brought  to 
the  mouth  of  the  cave  of  poverty  ;  let  hunger,  thirst  and  nakedness, 
in  all  their  grisly  terrifying  shapes  stare  them  in  the  face,  then  let 
them,  if  they  can.  exemplify  these  ideal  doctrines;  let  a  man 
pricked,  torn,  goaded,  and  surrounded  by  the  briers  and  thorns 
sown  thick  in  the  path  of  poverty,  take  out  his  table-book  and 
write  a  treatise  on  contentment  and  submission  to  these  severities 
of  his  lot,  and  with  a  face  of  composure  be  able  to  recommend  the 


94  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1776. 

pleasing  doctrines  by  his  own  example,  I  will  believe  the  existence 
of  such  a  singular  phenomenon  ;  but  till  I  can  see  such  an  instance 
in  real  life,  which  I  never  yet  have  seen,  I  must  doubt  the  existence 
of  it  anywhere  but  in  books  and  systems.  ^Human  practice  knows 
no  such  airy  notions.  History  tells  of  savages  singing  amid  tortures, 
but  the  instances  of  unfeeling  savages  are  the  instances  of  unfeeling 
savages  only  ;  civilized  societies  furnished  with  the  means  and 
comforts  and  elegancies  of  life,  afford  no  instances  of  such  barbar 
ous  insensibilities.  Job,  indeed,  is  recommended  as  a  pattern  to  be 
imitated  for  patience  under  the  grievous  sufferings  of  loss  of  pro 
perty,  and  pain  ;  but  he,  as  was  natural  to  expect  in  his  wretched 
ness,  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  and  who  can  express  himself  with 
more  impatience  ?  Poverty  with  all  her  attendant  evils,  to  one 
unaccustomed  to  her  presence  till  old  age,  is  too  formidable  to  be 
vanquished  by  philosophy  and  religion ;  nor  is  there  a  mind  in 
such  a  situation,  in  its  own  natural  forces,  capable  of  supporting 
itself,  and  not  bending  under  the  weight  of  grief  and  despair.  My 
doctrine  perhaps  you  may  refuse  your  assent  to,  but  I  have  said 
nothing  my  reason  doth  not  dictate  in  the  coolest  hours  of  reflec 
tion.  On  the  present  occasion  I  feel  the  force  of  these  truths  in  a 
much  more  striking  manner.  With  respect  to  my  circumstances,  I 
will  just  add  that  several  of  my  letters  containing  orders  for  remit 
tances  were  intercepted,  by  order  I  suppose  of  the  Amphyctionic 
states  of  America,  or  the  lesser  hogan  mogans  of  some  particular 
colony,  by  which  manoeuvre  my  friends  £ne\v  no  more  of  my  cir 
cumstances  than  if  I  was  in  the  region  of  the  moon. 

The  melancholy  event  in  your  family  drew  from  my  eyes  the 
tears  of  sympathy,  well  knowing  the  grief  of  a  tender  parent  for 
the  loss  of  a  beloved  offspring;  and  if  you  will  not  apply  to  me 
Augustus'  answer  to  the  Trojan  ambassador,  I  will  add,  you  may 
believe  with  sincerity,  my  real  arid  unfeigned  grief  at  the  loss, 
which  I  pray  God  to  support  you  under. 

Yours,  etc. 

S.  CUR  WEN. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  95 


CHAPTER    IV. 


Exeter,  Jan.  1,  1777. — This  day  is  very  near  the  commence 
ment  of  my  sixty-second  year,  being  three  days  later ;  my  birth 
day  was  the  28th  ult. ;  may  this  year  be  more  productive  of  moral 
improvement  than  rny  last  was,  and  if  it  shall  please  the  righteous 
Disposer  of  human  events  to  continue  the  dark  cloud  now  hanging 
over  me  another  year,  may  he  support  me  under  the  dispensation, 
and  enable  me  to  discharge  my  duty,  if  not  with  alacrity,  with 
composure  and  an  unreluctant  temper. 

June  5.  Attended  worship  at  Bow-church.  Mr.  Manning 
preached  a  pleasing  discourse  on  "friendship"  which,  like  all  fine 
pictures,  was  too  highly  colored  and  above  life. 

TO  THOMAS  DANFORTH,  ESQ.,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Jan.  11,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  success  of  the  British  arms  does  not  raise  my  hopes  ;  the 
political  states  of  America  have  resources  much  greater  than  you 
and  I  may  be  acquainted  with.  The  courts  of  France  and  Spain 
are  too  vigilant  to  let  slip  so  fair  an  occasion  of  revenging 
themselves  for  the  losses  and  disgraces  of  their  fleets  and  armies, 
sustained  from  British  troops  last  war,  not  to  avail  themselves  of 
this  conjuncture.  The  advices  from  both  countries  but  too  justly 
afford  shrewd  suspicions  of  their  unfriendly  designs  towards  Great 
Britain,  and  God  only  knows  the  consequences ;  the  colonies  may 
be  lost,  and  Great  Britain,  perhaps,  in  the  event,  may  be  very  well 
off  if  she  can  maintain  her  own  independence.  These  are  suggestions 
of  a  mind  in  quite  a  different  state  from  your  "  head-quarter"  folks, 
who,  in  our  country  language,  count  their  chickens  before  they  are 
hatched  j  if  they  would  deign  to  take  me  into  their  counsels,  I 
should  advise  them  to  be  more  sure  of  a  victory  before  they  cele 
brate  the  triumph.  The  continuance  of  our  evils  is  to  my  sickly 


96  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

imagination  much  longer  than  the  court  conceives ;  but  what  is  to 
become  pf  me  in  the  mean  time  ?  I  need  not  take  a  peep  into 
futurity  to  know. 

I  want  to  know  a  thousand  things,  and  ask  a  thousand  questions, 
which  you  at  the  source  of  intelligence  are  acquainted  with,  rela 
tive  to  America  and  American  exiles,  but  of  which  I  am  as  igno 
rant  as  if  in  New  Zealand.  If  I  continue  here  much  longer,  I 
shall  be  fitter  for  a  hermit's  cell;  indeed  I  have  thought,  nay,  often 
wished  for  one,  which  at  my  time  of  life,  and  with  my  prospects, 
would  be  a  most  welcome  retreat. 

I  remain  yours,  S.  CURWEN.  • 

TO  HON.  JUDGE  SEW  ALL,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Jan.  19,  1777. 

******* 

DEAR  SIR  : 

So  little  did  I  know  myself,  so  ignorant  of  consequences  I  might 
have  foreseen  and  avoided,  had  I  possessed  common  discernment, 
that,  for  what  now  appears  to  me  a  chimera,  I  abandoned  my 
dwelling,  friends  and  means  of  life,  which  you  know  I  possessed  in 
no  small  degree,  and  might,  as  the  event  proves,  have  retained 
on  the  comparative  trifling  condition  of  insults,  reproaches,  and 
perhaps  a  dress  of  tar  and  feathers ; — an  alternative  I  now  see 
much  to  be  preferred  to  the  distresses  of  mind  I  am  daily  suffering. 
The  licentiousness  of  an  unruly  rabble,  saving  personal  outrages, 
with  a  plentiful  purse,  is  an  envied  state  to  liberty,  in  the  mildest 
government  on  earth,  attached  to  poverty  with  its  horrid  train  of 
evils ;  this  you  may  regard  as  a  paradox,  and  so  will  all  who  are 
at  ease. 

I  think  it  is  Lucan  who  says,  a  good  man  struggling  under  the 
storms  of  fate  in  adverse  fortune,  is  a  noble  sight,  and  well  pleas 
ing  to  the  gods.  It  may  be  so— may  it  be  his  condition  on  whom 
the  gods  have  bestowed  fortitude  enough  to  oppose  the  storms ; 
for  myself  I  had  rather  sail  on  a  pacific  ocean,  and  would  willingly 
dispense  with  some  degree  of  honorable  exaltation  hereafter  for  a 
more  favorable  state  of  trial  here.  But  enough  of  this  ; — to  come 

to  matter  of  fact. 

******* 

With  great  esteem, 

S.  CURWEN. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  97 

Jan.  31.  Lord  Chesterfield  being  asked  what  he  thought  of 
the  three  Georges,  answered,  "  1,  George  the  wise,  2,  George  the 
prudent,  3,  George  the  unfortunate." — I  am  afraid  his  inflexible 
temper,  and  the  falling  off  of  one  of  the  richest  jewels  from  his 
crown  on  the  day  of  his  coronation,  forebodes  a  dismemberment  of 
the  most  rich  and  valuable  of  the  English  dominions  ; — whether 
Ireland,  America,  or  the  East  Indies,  I  pretend  not  to  foretell,  but 
fear  one  or  the  other,  perhaps  all.  France  and  Spain  will  not  fail 
to  avail  themselves  of  our  national  folly  to  revenge  their  former 
losses  and  disgraces.  The  English,  though  brave,  are  not  dis 
cerning  ;  they  every  day  increase  the  relative  strength  of  the  ene 
my  by  lessening  their  own  real  power.  The  end  may  possibly  be, 
instead  of  securing  the  dependence  of  the  American  colonies,  the 
loss  of  their  own  independence.  May  God  in  his  mercy  prevent 
this  mortifying  event,  if  it  shall  be  for  the  general  good. 


TO  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL. 

Exeter,  Feb.  5,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  your  last  kind  and  friendly  favor, 
and  for  the  prospect  it  afforded  me  of  hearing  again  soon.  *  *  *  * 
I  presume  the  *  *  *  *  are  too  full  of  more  important  concerns  to 
attend  to  these  lesser  matters ;  however  if  it  be  *  *  *  *  and  we 
may  rely  on  a  *  *  *  *  I  can  cheerfully  dispense  with  a  few 
weeks'  delay ;  *  *  *  *  but  such  is  the  whirl  and  impotence  of  hu 
man  affairs,  that  while  we  are  on  this  stage  we  are  often  obliged 
to  play  different  parts  ;  I  wish  never  to  act  an  unworthy  one  ;  my 
only  solicitude  now  is  to  pass  off  with  decency,  and  escape  with 
out  a  hiss, — but  enough  of  this. 

On  the  possession  of  Rhode  Island  without  loss  of  blood,  may  it 
be  attended  with  better  consequences  than  my  gloomy,  foreboding 
mind  suggests.  I  fear  France  and  Spain  too  closely  watch  the 
motions  of  this  nation  to  suffer  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  advan 
tages  gained  over  the  foolish,  deluded  countrymen  of  ours,  which, 
but  for  the  duplicity  of  those  courts,  would  yield  me  a  pleasing 
prospect. 

I  often  think  of  our  common  progenitor,  Father  Adam,  on 

13 


98  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

his  being  driven  out  of  Paradise  by  an  angel  with  his  flaming 
sword : 

"  The  world  was  all  before  him,  where  to  choose 
His  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  his  guide." 

With  this  difference  between  us,  his  banishment  was  by  an  angel, 
and  for  a  transgression  ;  mine  by  men  almost  as  bad  as  devils,  and 
for  none  : — I  am  afraid  our  lot  is  also  different  in  a  third  respect,  he 
had  Providence  for  his  guide,  and  I  seem  to  be  left  to  an  ill-judg 
ing,  foolish  mind  !  *  *  *  * 

As  you  are  at  the  source  of  intelligence, 

shall  be  glad  to  be  favored  with  an  answer  to  the  following  que 
ries  :  viz. — Is  there  a  probability  of  a  French  or  Spanish  war  1 
And  in  that  case,  will  Great  Britain  send  more  troops  to  America  1 
Will  General  Clinton  be  reinforced  ?  Will  any  Americans  be 
allowed  to  depart  for  America,  and  in  what  character  ?  And  if 
so,  will  it  be  prudent  for  me  to  embrace  the  opportunity  and  de 
part  ?  Have  you  seen  the  Articles  of  Confederation  1  Are  they 
real,  or  fictitious  and  made  here  ?  Is  there  any  late  news  from 
Generals  Howe  or  Clinton  ?  And  if  so,  what  is  it  ? 

*  *  *  *  *  #  * 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Feb.  13.  A  reverend,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Maccaroni 
Doctor,  is  in  Poultry  Compter  for  forgery,  and  has  confessed  to  the 
sum  of  £4:200  sterling ;  his  real  name  Dodd ;  he  figures  in  the 
tete-a-tetes  in  the  magazines,  and  unless  defamed,  is  a  worthless 
character,  though  noted  for  some  serious  publications  in  the  com 
mon  routine.  He  has  two  chapels  and  the  Magdalen  under  his 
care. 

It  is  reported  that  six  hundred  Hessians  in  an  engagement  with 
the  provincials  are  slain,  and  many  wounded. 

Feb.  20.  The  American  high  treason  bill  having  passed  through 
two  readings  and  to  be  printed,  giving  the  king  power  to  imprison 
any  person  suspected  of  favoring,  aiding  or  abetting  the  Americans, 
without  liberty  of  bail  or  mainprize,  has  raised  an  alarm  in  peo 
ple's  minds  universally,  as  it  suspends  the  habeas  corpus  act,  that 


1777.]  JOURNAL   AND   LETTERS.  99 

great  bulwark  of  English  liberty,  as  it  is  called ;  and  it  is  suppos 
ed  to  aim  at  some  characters  obnoxious  to  administration.  Such 
is  the  language  of  those  who  do  not  affect  the  present  ministerial 
measures  respecting  America,  while  the  advocates  on  the  other 
hand  plead  the  necessity  of  such  a  bill  to  render  government  secure, 
as  without  it  those  who  are  and  shall  be  hereafter  taken,  cannot 
be  kept  in  custody  and  brought  to  trial  for  what  they  call  piracy 
and  treason.  May  the  remains  of  English  liberty  and  the  consti 
tution  not  be  overlooked  and  lost  in  this  fatal  quarrel.  Charles 
James  Fox  said  on  this  occasion,  that  four  acts  were  over,  and  this 
was  the  first  scene  in  the  fifth  act,  (alluding  to  the  enormous  power 
given  the  crown,)  and  shows  the  precarious  tenure  on  which  the 
liberty  of  England  is  held. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Exeter,  Feb.  20,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  received  a  long  letter  from  Judge  Sewall,  in  conse 
quence  of  which  I  am  going  to  London,  and  shall  depart  from 
hence  next  week.  God  bless  you  and  succeed  your  pious  endeav 
ors  to  reform  a  very  wicked  world.  May  we  preserve  ourselves 
unpolluted  from  the  defilements  thereof ;  pray  don't  neglect  to 
write  to  your  old  friend  and  companion. 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  THOMAS  DANFORTH,  ESQ.,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Feb.  20 ,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  information  of  *****  puts  into  my  memory 
many  proverbs,  of  which,  if  it  did  not  look  too  like  Sancho  Panza,  I 
could  string  near  a  dozen  apropos.  You  tell  me  it  is  owing  to  my 
being  considered  a  merchant  simply ;  truly  I  think  I  have  proved 
myself  a  very  simple  merchant,  and  brought  my  wares  to  a  wretch 
ed  poor  market — thanks  to  the  kind  misadvisers  of  *  *  *  * 
but  they  forgot  or  perhaps  never  knew  that  I  had  been  in  the  com 
mission  of  the  peace  more  than  thirty  years;  nearly  the  same 
period  was  impost  officer  for  the  county  of  Essex,  and  a  captain 
in  the  first  Cape  Breton  regiment,  for  which  I  have  never  received 


100  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1777. 

any  gratuity  or  recompense  ;  but  no  matter,  past  services  are  easily 
forgotten,  and  the  novi  homines  are  klike  to  reap  all  the  emolu 
ments. 

Please  put  the  inclosed  into  a  bag  for  Bilboa  at  New  Lloyd's 
Coffee-house,  Exchange ;  be  assured  it  contains  no  love  or  treason ; 
the  times  admit  of  writing  on  neither. 

As  to  my  return  to  London,  I  must  not  think  of  it,  for  the 
operation  of  this  new  law,  like  the  fifth  act  in  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.,  banishes  me  effectually,  and  of  course  from  every  corporation 
in  England,  and  will  oblige  me  to  take  up  my  residence  from 
.henceforth  in  some  village. 

I  remain,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

Exeter,  Feb.  27.  Set  off  at  six  o'clock  in  the  diligence  for 
Plymouth ;  at  ten  alighted  at  Ashburton,  nineteen  miles,  for  break 
fast  ;  at  three  arrived  at  Plymouth. 

Feb.  28.  Having  taken  a  view  of  Catwater  harbor,  Plym 
jiver,  etc.,  I  proceeded  to  the  citadel,  standing  on  an  eminence, 
being  the  eastern  extremity  of  a  range  of  bluff  highlands  command 
ing  a  fair  prospect  of  the  entrance  from  the  sound,  in  the  middle 
whereof  is  an  island,  fortified ;  the  town  appearing  almost  under 
foot.  Procuring  a  coach,  rode  to  the  Dock,  lying  at  the  distance 
of  two  miles,  passing  through  a  settlement  of  a  hundred  houses  on 
the  hither  side  of  a  stream  dividing  Lord  Edgecombe's  estate  from 
Sir  John  St.  Aubin,  on  whose  land  the  dock  is  built,  and  of  whom 
the  ground  is  rented,  paying  him  yearly  as  lord  of  the  manor. 
There  are  many  ships  in  the  yard,  chiefly  on  the  Tamar  river,  (to 
the  east  of  which  the  dock-yard  lies,)  amongst  others  the  Royal 
Sovereign,  the  Queen,  the  Augusta,  the  Invincible ;  and  at  the 
quay  lay  the  Blenheim  of  ninety  guns,  on  board  of  which  I  was ; 
and  on  the  stocks  three  large  ones,  and  the  Royal  George  of  one 
hundred  guns.  Passed  from  thence  to  the  dock,  compassed  by 
hewn  stone,  into  which  the  water  flows  to  the  height  of  twenty-six 
feet  in  some  and  less  in  others  j  the  water  is  measured  by  pillars, 
whereon  figures  are  marked,  and  is  admitted  by  great  gates,  open 
and  shut  as  needed.  The  rope-walks  are  of  stone,  of  a  thousand 
feet  in  length ;  the  work  is  wrought  under  cover,  the  pitch  and  tar 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  101 

being  in  vaulted  cellars  run  athwart  the  building,  having  no  com 
munication  with  each  other.  Each  particular  department  has  its 
place  detached  from  the  other,  and  each  store  distant  from  another. 
The  stores  are  immense,  and  nothing  less  than  the  riches  of  the 
whole  earth  seem  capable  of  supporting  such  an  expense.  The 
numbers  daily  employed  in  the  various  branches  are,  I  am  told,  ten 
thousand  in  the  yard,  and  regularly  called  over  three  times  a  day. 
The  great  regularity  with  which  business  is  conducted  is  very  ob 
servable,  and,  indeed,  considering  the  incredible  variety  of  branches, 
and  immense  quantities  of  stores,  the  most  perplexing  confusions 
would  otherwise  ensue.  I  did  not  hear  an  oath,  nor  see  any  rude 
ness  during  my  stay  in  the  yard.  Within  the  walls  are  the  officers' 
houses,  and  many  very  genteel,  particularly  the  row  in  which 
the  commander  lives,  with  a  handsome  avenue  and  a  decent  chapel. 
At  twelve  o'clock  the  workmen  regularly  go  out  in  order,  two  and 
two,  to  their  dinner,  and  the  axmen  suffered  to  take  as  many  chips 
as  they  can  carry,  furnishing  families  with  fuel,  and  the  unmarried 
with  pocket-money.  A  little  beyond  the  yard,  containing  fifty  or 
sixty  acres,  inclosed  with  a  high  wall,  is  the  gun-dock,  a  square 
where  the  artillery  apparatus  is  lodged,  and  a  small  commodious 
armory,  but  very  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  same  size  in  the 
Tower  of  London.  On  our  return  took  the  route  through  the  quarter 
called  the  Storehouse,  detached  from  the  dock  by  a  river,  over 
which  is  a  bridge,  and  belongs  to  Lord  Edgecombe,  consisting  of 
a  hundred  houses,  and  additions  are  daily  making ;  in  this  is  a  building 
called  the  long-room,  appropriated  to  tea,  punch,  wine,  etc.,  for  pri 
vate  companies  and  public  assemblies,  and  there  is  an  elegant  room 
with  drawing-rooms  adjoining,  nearly  fifty  feet  long,  about  thirty 
wide,  and  twenty-five  high,  with  two  handsome  glass  chandeliers 
and  a  music-gallery ;  not  far  from  this  is  a  building  with  large 
areas  encompassed  by  high  stone  fences,  called  the  Old  Mill  Prison, 
now  fitting  up  to  receive  American  prisoners.  From  this  we  as 
cended  a  high  bluff-head  reaching  to  the  citadel  ,•  whilst  here,  was 
not  a  little  mortified  to  see  an  American  privateer  prize  coming 
into  the  harbor  from  Dartmouth,  nor  were  my  ears  a  little 
wounded  to  hear  another  sold  by  auction. 

Plymouth,  March  1.     Being  called  at  six  o'clock,  I  arose  and 
entered  the  vehicle  alone,  taking  up  a  country  couple  at  Squire 


102  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

Parker's  lodge;  first  stage  at  Ivy  bridge,  eleven  miles,  where 
breakfasted,  and  from  thence  alighted  at  12  o'clock  at  Totness, 
from  whence  I  departed  to  Mrs.  Wingate's,  late  Sophia  Reed,  who 
kindly  received  me ;  from  thence,  after  an  hour's  rest,  set  off  for 
Newton  Abbott  and  Newton  Bushel,  separated  only  by  a  bridge, 
the  former  being  the  name  the  whole  goes  by :  passing  by  Mr. 
Coxe's  seat  called  Penmore  Park,  and  at  six  o'clock  alighted  in  the 
churchyard,  Exeter. 

Exeter,  March  7.  I  received  a  letter  from  London  informing 
me  of  my  wife's  health  and  welfare  in  November  last,  and  that  she 
had  been  obliged  to  pay  ten  pounds  sterling  to  find  a  man  for  the 
American  army  in  my  stead.  This  intelligence  I  received  by  a 
letter  from  Doctor  John  Prince,  at  Halifax.  Left  for  Bristol  in  the 
diligence,  and  arrived  at  the  Bush  tavern,  opposite  the  Exchange, 
at  eight  o'clock  evening. 

Bristol,  March  8.  Entered  the  diligence  for  London  at  one 
o'clock  at  night — the  frost  was  so  intense  that  our  breaths  formed 
a  hard  cake  of  ice  on  the  glass,  scarce  to  be  taken  off  by  the  nails. 
At  the  city  of  Bath  we  arrived,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  almost 
stiffened  with  cold  ;  here  I  attempted  to  thaw  myself,  but  this 
expedient  I  fancy  only  rendered  my  body  and  feet  more  susceptible 
of  the  cold ;  suffering,  till  the  sun  arose  and  chased  away  the  frost, 
inconceivable  pain.  At  Calne  we  changed  horses  again,  and 
attempted  a  second  thaw  with  better  success  than  the  first,  being 
aided  by  the  sun  then  beginning  to  bless  the  upper  hemisphere, 
shining  in  a  cloudless  sky.  From  hence  to  Marlborough  the  road 
lies  over  a  place  called  the  Down ;  at  the  entrance  is  a  hill,  insu 
lated  in  the  form  of  a  half  egg,  with  the  summit  cut  down  to  a 
plain,  and  is  called  Silbury,  supposed  to  be  made  by  art  or  the 
hand  of  man,  on  which  are  some  of  the  bodies  of  earth  like  those 
surrounding  Stonehenge,  called  tumuli  ;  conjectured  to  be  burying 
places  of  the  ancient  Druids.  Hence  to  Froxfield,  on  the  borders 
of  which  is  an  almshouse  for  the  reception  of  forty-five  tradesmen's 
widows ;  it  has  two  fronts,  each  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
of  brick.  The  next  town  is  Hungerford ;  hence  to  Newbury,  a 
town  larger  in  extent  and  more  numerous  in  inhabitants  than  Marl- 
borough.  Near  this  town  are  many  single  houses,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  wealthy  persons'  residences ;  and  on  a  pleasant  plain, 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  103 

commanding  also  a  view  of  Newbury,  lying  lo  the  right  as  one 
comes  from  Bath,  is  a  parish  called  Speen ;  at  the  entrance  is  a 
lofty  building  to  be  seen  about  half  a  mile  distant,  on  a  ridge 
of  hills,  having  a  round  tower  called  Dunnington  Castle ;  the  road 
lies  through  a  street  built  on  what  is  called  Speen  lands,  belonging 
to  the  parish  of  that  name,  but  is  connected  by  buildings  continued 
to  Newbury  town,  spreading  a  great  extent  on  a  low  plain  in  a 
bottom.  Here  we  took  fresh  horses,  passing  through  two  or  three 
villages  to  Reading,  the  distance  of  which  from  London  is  thirty- 
nine  miles ;  this,  the  chief  town  of  Berkshire,  contains  between  two 
and  three  thousand  houses ;  from  a  little  beyond  Marlborough  to 
Reading,  the  land  is  a  continued  flat,  much  of  it  improved,  the 
roads  like  garden  gravel-walks,  and  very  pleasant.  At  Bayswater 
we  again  shifted  horses,  and  again  at  Hounslow  j  between  those 
two  places  lies  the  noted  heath  called  by  the  name  of  the  latter, 
which  we  passed  over  with  a  slow,  solemn  pace  in  the  dark,  being 
more  than  an  hour  in  crossing  it.  We  arrived  safe  at  eight 
o'clock,  evening,  at  the  Swan-with-two-Necks  Inn,  Doctors'  Com 
mons. 

London,  March  9.  Set  forward  for  Judge  Sewall's,  where  I 
dined  and  passed  the  evening,  Colonels  Saltonstall  and  Phipps 
being  of  the  company :  from  thence  I  proceeded  to  Brompton-Row, 
where  Thomas  Danforth,  Edward  Oxnard,  and  Jonathan  Clarke 
lodged,  and  here  I  engaged  lodgings. 

March  10.  Walked  out  to  Judge  Sewall's,  he  having  the  day 
before  engaged  to  accompany  me  to  the  Treasury,  where  after  a 
compliment  I  received  information  of  a  hundred  pounds  down, 
and  a  hundred  per  annum  during  the  troubles  in  America,  which 
I  esteem  as  a  providential  provision  procured  by  the  friendship  of 
my  respected  friend  Judge  Sewall.  1  received  an  order  on  the  bank ; 
accompanied  by  him  and  Mr.  Thomas  Danforth,  I  took  a  note  at 
the  cashier's  office  for  seventy  pounds  payable  to  myself  on  demand, 
and  thirty  pounds  in  cash,  departing  very  joyous  and  I  hope  grate 
ful  to  that  Being  who  has,  by  friends,  been  pleased  in  the  midst  of 
gloomy  prospects  to  set  my  feet  on  firm  ground  and  establish  my 
goings :  may  I  wisely  improve  this  gracious  indulgence. 

Brompton-Row,  Kensington,  March  11.  Took  an  early  walk  to 
London,  and  meeting  Governor  Hutchinson,  was  invited  to  dinner, 


104  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

which  I  accepted,  and  receiving  his  address  ( 147  New  Bond-street) 
arrived  at  it ;  company  beside  myself,  his  son  Elisha  and  daugh 
ter,  was  Mr.  B.  Hallowell.  After  dinner  repaired  to  Haymarket 
theatre,  where  was  entertained  in  a  very  full  house  by  the  humor 
ous  George  Alexander  Stevens'  lecture  on  heads. 

March  12.  Spent  the  evening  with  the  Club,  consisting  of 
twelve  American  exiles,  at  the  Treasurer's  house,  Mr.  Harrison 
Gray's. 

March  31.  Rode  to  Hackney  with  Judge  Sewall  to  see  his 
son  Jonathan  at  school ;  returned  to  his  house  to  dinner,  where  I 
passed  the  evening. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

JVb.  23  Brompton-Row,  March  19,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  am  at  length  at  my  moorings  in  this  port,  not  much  to  my 
content  except  in  this  one  circumstance,  the  early  receipt  of  the 
unum  necessarium  ;  this,  though  it  chases  away  all  apprehensions 
of  future  want,  does  not  in  every  situation  yield  positive  happiness ; 
perhaps  I  am  enigmatical, — the  solution  must  be  deferred  to  a  per 
sonal  interview  hereafter. 

The  only  article  of  political  news  is  that  Gen.  Washington  was, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  present  year,  declared  Lord  Protector  of 
the  thirteen  United  States  of  America.  Mr.  Timmins  is  arrived 
from  Boston  via  Cork  ;  he  left  Plymouth  about  the  first  of  Febru 
ary  ;  says  the  affair  of  the  Hessians  was  brought  to  Boston  in  four 
days  and  put  them  in  high  spirits ;  that  the  harbor  of  Boston  is 
strongly  fortified  from  the  lighthouse  and  Point  Alderton  to  Fort 
Nell ;  the  people  sanguine  in  their  expectations  of  a  French  war, 
encouraged  in  their  errors  by  the  Danish,  French  and  Spanish 
traders,  who  are  numerous  in  the  port.  King- street  (Boston) 
almost  as  much  thronged  with  people  of  all  nations,  etc.,  as  the 
Strand  or  Cornhill ;  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  prizes  carried  in 
by  the  23d  December;  four  vessels  with  goods  from  France,  with 
powder,  small  arms,  clothing  and  other  articles  ;  one  with  twenty 
thousand  suits  of  military  clothing,  an  article  not  a  little  wanted 
among  them.  Young  R***s***  has  made  twenty  thou 
sand  pounds  sterling  by  privateering,  and  S.  A.  Otis  the  most  im 
portant,  busy  man,  as  well  as  one  of  the  richest  there,  etc. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  105 

I  fancy  I  shall  take  my  flight  northward,  as  birds  of  passage 
you  know  do,  on  the  approach  of  spring.  There  are  twenty 
Americans  going  out  with  goods  to  New-York  and  Rhode  Island 
in  the  spring ;  I  think  the  adventures  rash.  Mr.  Amory  is  delayed 
by  his  wife's  illness,  which  it  is  judged  will  soon  end  in  mortality. 
I  have  received  a  letter  from  Thomas  Russell*  of  Boston,  and 
Russell  Wyer  of  Salem,  written  in  the  beginning  of  February, 
all  well. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Kensington,  March  20.  Evening  at  club  at  Mr.  Harrison 
Gray's. 

Sunday,  March  23.  To  Christ  Church  Hospital  to  see  the 
children,  to  the  number  of  eight  hundred,  sup ;  admitted  by  a  ticket 
signed  John  Lane,  one  of  the  governors.  The  hall  is  a  hundred 
feet  in  length,  and  twenty  feet  in  height, — on  one  side  of  which  are 
three  pictures,  the  middle  one  sixty  feet  long  and  fifteen  high ;  in  the 
centre  King  William ;  on  the  same  range  courtiers,  life-guardsmen, 
etc.  In  the  foreground  on  one  hand,  hospital  children  of  the  males, 
and  on  the  other  females,  and  all  in  their  proper  garbs : — on  the  left, 
or  the  first  from  the  door,  of  the  same  length  is  a  painting  of  King  Ed 
ward  surrounded  by  his  court  with  a  roll,  by  me  supposed  to  represent 
the  first  charter  of  this  institution,  he  being  the  founder  thereof ;  and 
on  the  other,  a  piece  of  the  same  size  as  the  last,  with  a  full  length 
of  Charles  II.,  with  astronomical  and  mathematical  apparatus, 
perhaps  to  denote  him  to  be  the  founder  of  the  mathematical 
school  here. — Three  tables  were  spread,  on  each  side  of  which 
benches ;  on  a  raised  platform  are  circular  seats  for  the  spectators, 
in  the  centre  front  a  two  armed  chair  for  the  governor,  or  treasurer, 
whose  name  is  Burford.  Prayers  are  read  by  one  of  the  upper 
boys  in  a  pulpit  erected  against  the  wall ;  then  singing  by  the 
boys  accompanied  by  an  organ ;  afterwards  supper,  consisting  only 
of  bread  and  butter ;  grace  before  and  after,  by  one  of  the  boys 
in  the  pulpit,  and  service  concludes  with  an  anthem.  The  boys 

*  An  opulent  and  distinguished  merchant  of  Boston,  whose  widow  mar 
ried  Sir  Grenville,  son  of  Sir  John  Temple,  first  Consul  General  from  Great 
Britain  to  the  United  States. 

14 


106  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

come  up  in  pairs  to  the  platform  to  make  their  bow,  and  retire, 
some  with  large  pitchers,  others  with  small  wooden  bowls,  others 
with  table-cloths  folded  up  under  their  arms,  others  with  large  bas 
kets  in  which  the  bread  was  brought,  and  others  with  lighted 
candles. 

March  27.  Walked  out  with  Judge  Sewall  and  Mr.  A.  Wil- 
lard  to  Cromwell's  garden,  which  is  in  ill  repair ;  drank  tea  at  the 
house  of  the  former,  and  passed  the  evening  with  the  New  Eng 
land  Club,  say  "  Brompton-Row  Tory  Club,"  at  Mr.  Blowers'. 

March  31.     Evening  with  the  club  at  H.  Gray's. 

April  3.  Dined  at  Treasurer  Gray's  with  Col.  Browne  and 
John  Sargent. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

23  Brompton-Row <,  Kensington,  Mpril  6,  1777. 
DEAR  SIK  : 

I  have  nothing  to  communicate  worth  a  minute's  attention. 
The  various  news  that  each  morning  produces,  the  following  day 
contradicts ;  however,  in  general,  perhaps  it  may  be  new  to  you 
to  know  that  the  tories  here  believe  the  American  game  of  inde 
pendency  is  nearly  up  j  not  so  your  doubting  friend.  Nay,  so  very 
sure  are  some,  that  there  is  no  small  talk  of  going  off  in  August. 
You  will  scarce  meet  one  that  entertains  the  least  shadow  of  a 
doubt  that  government  must  succeed  in  the  utmost  extent  of 
its  views  before  the  fall  j  the  reasons  and  probability  of  which  I 
have  not  discernment  enough  to  see.  I  wish  the  old  Latin  proverb 
may  not  with  too  much  propriety  be  applied  to  these  implicit  be 
lievers,  "  Canunt  triumphum  ante  victoriam."* 

I  wrote  you  in  my  last  that  several,  to  the  number  of  twenty, 
were  going  off  to  New-York.  I  now  add  that  another  cargo  of 
twelve  or  fifteen,  among  whom  is  young  Chipman,  is  to  depart  in  a 
vessel  of  250  tons,  laden  writh  goods  to  the  amount  of  .£80,000 
sterling,  defended  by  a  force  of  17  guns  and  17  men,  in  ten 
days.  It  is  reported  that  the  new  levies,  British  and  German, 
going  to  General  Howe,  are  in  number  eight  thousand,  and  that 
General  Burgoyne  is  already  gone,  and  is  to  take  with  him  from 

*  "  They  celebrate  the  triumph  before  the  victory  is  gained." 


1776.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  107 

Canada  by  way  of  St.  Lawrence  river,  the  greater  part  of  the 
troops  at  present  stationed  there  j  no  further  attempts  being  to  be 
made  on  the  lakes  this  season.  Our  head-quarter  folks  say  that 
Lord  George  Germaine  declared  to  Col.  Phips,  who  is  going  this 
day  to  Halifax  with  Admiral  Montague  via  Newfoundland,  that 
the  first  advices  from  America,  he  doubts  not,  will  be  joyful.  All 
here  are  expecting  to  hear  that  General  Howe  is  in  possession  of 
Philadelphia.  On  the  contrary,  the  Philadelphia  papers  are  full 
of  the  great  exploits  of  the  American  troops  against  the  royal 
army,  and  the  promising  appearances  of  affairs  on  their  side  ;  and 
if  Gen.  Washington  and  Gen.  Gates'  letters  are  genuine,  Gen. 
Howe  and  his  forces  are  not  in  so  fair  a  way  to  possess  themselves 
of  that  capital  as  our  folks  seem  to  fancy.  Mr.  Dickinson's  de 
fection  has  proved  a  false  alarm,  he  being  only  retired  to  his  estate 
seventy  miles  from  Philadelphia,  for  what  reasons  politicians  disa 
gree.  His  brother  Dickinson  and  his  brother-in-law  Cadwallader, 
are  both  commanders  in  the  American  army.  Last  night  I  heard 
read  the  following,  from  a  letter  dated  Portsmouth,  April  10,  viz., 
"  Two  thousand  Anspachers  sailed  for  New-York  under  convoy  of 
the  Somerset  and  Mercury :  three  thousand  more  Germans  are 
expected  here  to  sail  directly,  under  the  St.  Albans." 

Yesterday  morn  the  late  right  reverend  the  Bishop  of  London's 
corpse  was  carried  by  our  door  on  a  hearse  to  its  place  of  inter 
ment  at  Fulham — successor  unknown ;  probably  the  bench  of 
bishops  will  take  care  that  the  see  of  London  do  not  stand  long 
vacant,  under  the  modest  pretence  of  JVb/o  Episcopari. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jipril  11.  Drank  tea  and  passed  the  evening  at  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Savage's,  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carpenter*  and  Judge 
Sewall. 

*  Of  Salem. 


108  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777, 


CHAPTER    V. 

Jlpril  17,  1777.  At  seven  A.  M.  departed  in  company  with 
Judge  Sewall  and  Mr.  A.  Willard,  on  our  intended  journey  to  Ips 
wich  ;  our  first  stage  at  Rumford,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles ;  this 
town  consists  of  about  two  hundred  houses,  some  few  modern. 
The  next  stage  at  a  town  called  Ingatestone,  not  unlike  the  former 
for  size  and  style,  distance  twelve  miles ;  Witham  was  our  third 
stage,  our  fourth  Colchester,  famous  for  the  manufacture  of  baizes, 
and  here  oysters  are  taken  from  the  sea  and  put  into  pits,  in  order 
to  give  them  that  coppery  taste  so  grateful  to  an  Englishman's 
palate,  and  so  disgustful  to  a  New  Englander's.  The  streets  are 
ill  paved  with  smallish  pebbles,  to  my  feet  so  harsh  and  hurtful  as 
to  occasion  frequent  complaints.  In  our  progress  came  to  the  cas 
tle,  built  in  form  of  one  of  the  old  barons,  not  improbable  to  have 
been  one ;  it  is  a  square ;  the  angles  defended  by  round  towers, 
pierced  like  the  body  of  the  castle  with  narrow  and  long  holes, 
through  which  the  inmates  were  wont  to  defend  themselves  by 
arrows ;  the  whole  crowned  with  battlements  formerly,  the  remains 
being  still  to  be  seen.  The  parade  contains  a  quarter  of  an  acre, 
and  is  now  cleared  of  the  barracks  it  was  once  encumbered  with  ; 
in  a  room  up  one  flight  of  stairs,  is  the  library,  belonging  to  a  Mr. 
Grey,  minister  for  the  town,  consisting  of  about  two  thousand  old 
books.  Here  a  weekly  society  meet ;  its  institution,  orders  and 
purposes,  my  curiosity  did  not  prompt  me  to  make  any  inquiry 
into :— hence  to  the  chapel  so  called,  an  empty  room,  containing 
only  a  reading  desk,  with  a  large  folio  Bible  and  a  large  wooden 
chair.  This  castle  was  in  the  time  of  the  civil  wars  defended  by 
Sir  Charles  Lucas  and  Sir  George  Lisle  for  the  royal  cause,  who 
were,  after  its  surrender,  shot  on  the  parade  and  buried  under  a 
small  church  in  the  road ;  the  precise  spot  on  which  they  stood  is 
carefully  preserved  in  memory,  and  told  the  curious  visitant.  The 
only  inhabitants  are  a  family  in  one  of  the  round  towers,  and  the 
rooks  who  occupy  the  holes  on  the  outside  in  great  numbers.  The 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  109 

site  of  the  castle  is  somewhat  high,  has  pleasant  walks  round, 
planted  with  trees,  and  commands  the  neighboring  grounds  that 
lie  below  it,  except  on  the  town  side.  On  the  same  plain  from 
this  spot  we  passed  through  the  streets  to  another  quarter  of  the 
town,  in  which  lie  the  St.  John's  Abbey  gardens,  now  known  by 
the  name  of  the  pinnacle  gardens,  for  reasons  unknown  to  us,  and 
are  surrounded  by  a  lofty  brick  wall,  and  strengthened  by  but 
tresses  in  good  repair.  These  I  suppose  are  the  walls  of  the  an 
cient  monastery  grounds,  embracing  twenty  acres.  Hence  we 
proceeded  home,  and  attended  by  our  complaisant  landlord,  were 
admitted  to  a  sight  of  a  tesselated  Roman  pavement  lately  discov 
ered  in  a  gentleman's  garden,  supposed  by  antiquarians  to  have 
been  the  pretorium  of  an  old  Roman  encampment,  it  being  a 
known  fact  that  Julius  Cesar  landed  in  his  second  invasion  of 
Britain  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  place.  It  is  probable  herea 
bouts  was  a  Roman  station,  and  the  discovery  of  this  piece  of  Ro 
man  work  renders  the  conjecture  not  improbable. 

From  hence  we  proceeded  over  to  a  Mr.  Great's,  to  see  the 
portraits  of  Sir  John  Jacquey  and  his  lady,  some  of  the  first  estab- 
lishers  of  the  baize  manufactories  here.  These  pieces  are  executed 
on  wood,  by  Vandyke,  in  1623 ;  we  were  told  they  are  judged  to 
be  capital  paintings,  and  it  is  highly  probable  they  are,  if  our  in 
formation  be  true  that  the  possessors'  descendants  of  this  couple 
have  been  offered  a  thousand  guineas  for  them. 

Colchester,  April  18.  Departed  at  nine  o'clock  hence  for  Mist- 
ley,  a  village  in  the  lands  of  Richard  Rigby,  Esq.,  who  is  lord  of  this 
manor.  In  two  hours  we  alighted  at  his  gardens,  in  extent  four 
acres  within  the  walls  ;  his  hot  and  green-houses  are  in  fine  order, 
and  supplied  with  common  trees  and  shrubs,  plants  and  vines,  but 
no  exotics  that  are  not  fructiferous  and  of  the  useful  kinds.  Thence 
through  the  pleasure  grounds  to  the  house,  where,  being  conducted 
through  a  more  than  Cretan  labyrinth,  at  length  arrived  ;  it  is  new 
and  elegant,  but  its  extent  does  not  rise  above  mediocrity  ;  its  or 
naments  are  silk  hangings  of  cream  color,  with  faint  shades  of 
blue,  red,  etc.;  chairs  the  same  with  three  very  large  looking- 
glasses,  a  beautiful  chimney-piece,  of  polished  marble ;  other 
chimney  furniture,  and  a  pyrometer  I  had  never  seen  before. 

We  arrived  at  Ipswich,  distant  from  Colchester  twenty-two 


110  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

miles,  where  we  dined.  From  the  inn,  accompanied  by  the  master, 
we  walked  along  the  old  wall  of  the  town  to  Mr.  John  Fonne- 
rau's  park  ;  the  house  wherein  he  dwells  belonging  to  it  is  called 
Christ  Church,  and  was  formerly  a  monastery  of  friars.  The  town 
consists  of  old-built,  ill- fashioned  structures,  and  contains  about  ten 
thousand  souls.  Its  only  trade  is  coals,  imported  from  the  north  ; 
but  few  people  stirring  in  the  streets,  a  visible  decay.  It  lies  on 
the  river  Orwell,  and  is  the  chief  county  town.  The  corn  market 
has  a  small  octagonal  building,  about  twenty  feet  in  diameter ;  in 
the  centre  on  top  stands  a  female  statue  as  large  as  life,  with  a  fil 
let  round  her  eyes ;  in  her  right  hand  a  sword,  and  in  her  left  a 
pair  of  scales,  loose  hung,  moving  up  and  down  with  every  puff  of 
wind,  perhaps  to  denote  the  instability  of  modern  justice,  or  how 
apt  it  is  to  swerve  from  the  right  line  when  urged  by  force  or 
interest,  or  moved  by  flattery. 

Ipsivich,  April  19.  After  breakfast  departed  from  this  solitary 
unpleasing  town,  very  like  its  namesake  in  New  England  in  its 
general  complexion,  and  in  two  hours  arrived  at  Stowmarket ; 
and  soon  after  at  St.  Edmundsbury  at  two  o'clock.  Accompanied 
by  the  landlord  we  went  to  view  the  ruins  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Ed 
mund  of  Saxon  time,  scattered  over  near  twenty  acres  now  owned 
by  Sir  Charles  Dacres  and  his  maiden  sister.  The  remains  of  this 
stupendous  building  are  astonishing,  many  foundations  of  walls  and 
pillars  being  yet  to  be  seen ;  the  casings  almost  entirely  taken 
away,  scarce  any  part  of  the  front  or  sides  being  left  except  here 
and  there  a  stone  which  serve  to  show  the  materials.  Some  of  the 
walls  were  thirty  feet  thick.  The  pillars  appear  to  have  been  from 
eight  to  twelve  feet ;  and  an  arch,  of  which  the  foundation  yet 
remains,  was  said  to  have  been  seventy  feet  high,  and  is  near 
forty  in  width.  The  foundation  also  of  the  Abbot's  hall  remains  j 
its  area  forty-five  feet  each  side.  In  a  spot,  perhaps  the  dormitory, 
a  few  years  since  was  digged  up  the  body  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort, 
brother  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  Regent  of  France  during  the  mi 
nority  of  Henry  VI.,  and  was  entire ;  a  hand  taken  from  it  is  pre 
served  in  spirits,  and  in  the  keeping  of  a  physician  here.  The 
grand  entrance  is  preserved  entire,  and  is  a  square  lofty  tower  j  its 
angles,  like  all  the  ancient  fortified  structures.-  covered  with  round 
towers  rising  up  to  the  top.  The  passage  way  through  is  under  a 


1777.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  Ill 

lofty  arch  defended  by  great  gates  that  are  kept  shut.  Many  par 
ticulars  were  told  us  respecting  the  various  parts  of  the  house,  ap 
purtenances  and  avenues,  but  not  being  noted  at  the  time,  are 
forgotten.  Among  the  notitia  of  this  place  by  desire  I  insert, 
that  the  steeple  of  St.  James's  church  stands  at  fifty  feet  distance 
from  the  body  of  the  church.  A  house  containing  four  windows 
in  front  being  between  ;  and  on  the  steeple  on  the  same  side  are 
two  hour  plates  of  clocks,  to  answer  what  purpose  was  beyond  my 
reach. 

At  three  o'clock  we  departed  from  this  pleasant,  handsome  and 
agreeable  town.  On  the  right,  about  ten  miles  distant,  Ely 
Minster  or  Cathedral  appeared  in  view.  At  twelve  miles  from 
last  stage  is  Newmarket,  an  indifferent  inn,  however  frequented  by 
dukes  and  lords.  We  passed  through  the  race  grounds ; — the 
races  were  instituted  to  keep  and  preserve  a  race  of  good  horses  in 
honor  of  the  nation ;  but  as  the  institution  is  debased,  it  is  not  the 
best  horse  that  wins  the  race,  but  that  which  is  destined  for  it  by 
combination ;  indeed,  some  descend  so  low  as  to  circumvent  one 
another.  The  diversion  becoming  a  public  nuisance  by  spreading 
itself,  the  legislature  took  cognizance  of  it,  and  by  the  13th  George 
II.  a  law  was  passed  in  relation  to  it.  Departed  for  Cambridge 
over  a  plain  champaign  uninclosed  country,  which  all  this  quarter 
of  the  country  seems  to  consist  of;  at  this  place  we  arrived  at 
seven  o'clock,  at  the  White  Bear  inn,  where  we  were  indifferently 
treated  at  our  first  alighting,  through  the  driver's  foolish  neglect  or 
mistake  in  not  denoting  that  dignity  and  importance  each  gentle 
man  should  assume  on  the  road  in  order  to  be  respectfully  treated  ; 
however,  he  seemed  afterwards  to  be  sensible  of  his  own  false 
judgment,  and  partly  made  amends. 

Cambridge,  April  20.  At  ten  o'clock,  taking  a  servant  of 
the  inn  along  with  us,  we  walked  out  in  order  to  have  a  sight  of 
the  inside  of  King's  College  chapel,  that,  by  delay  at  Trinity 
College,  we  lost.  This  latter  is  by  far  the  most  magnificent  in  the 
University ;  has  two  spacious  quadrangles,  the  front  and  one  of  the 
squares  are  of  Portland  freestone,  having  a  beautiful  reservoir  of 
water  in  the  midst;  the  chambers  occupy  two  sides,  the  hall  and 
*  room  another  side,  and  the  fourth  by  the  chapel,  which 
contained  nothing  remarkable  but  a  full  length  statue  of  Sir  Isaac 


112  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

Newton  in  the  porch.  The  other  square  contains  chambers  on  all 
sides  except  the  north  or  west,  and  is  wholly  improved  by  the 
college  library,  a  noble  room  of  two  hundred  feet  in  length  by 
about  seventy  wide,  filled  with  forty  thousand  volumes ;  the  alcoves 
having  on  top  the  busts  of  the  most  famous  ancient  philosophers  on 
one  side,  and  the  most  famous  of  the  modern  English  authors,  etc. 
on  the  other.  Here  we  were  shown  a  perfect  Egyptian  mummy, 
the  flesh  like  a  smoked  tongue.  In  the  same  apartment  was  a 
curious  inscription  in  Greek  capitals,  without  distinction  of  senten 
ces  or  words,  on  a  marble  about  eighteen  inches  square,  having  a 
plain  pediment  on  the  top  ;  it  is  called  Marmor  Sandavicensis, 
being  presented  by  Lord  Sandwich.  There  are  also  to  be  seen 
some  mutilated  antique  pillars  and  capitals  with  inscriptions  in 
Greek  characters,  placed  on  the  grand  staircases  leading  to  the 
library,  given  by  Mr.  Wortley  Montague  or  his  sister  Lady  Bute, 
since  her  death,  but  which  I  forget ;  and  among  them  his  bust  in 
marble. 

From  hence  we  departed  through  the  college  walks  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Cam,  running  on  the  back  of  King's  College, 
Trinity  College,  Caius,  Trinity  Hall,  Clare  Hall  and  St.  John's 
College ;  over  the  river  are  three  handsome  stone  bridges  for  foot 
walking,  and  between  them  a  wooden  bridge  called  the  bridle 
way,  for  horses  and  carriages  ;  the  banks  of  the  river  within  the 
college  grounds  are  faced  with  stone,  the  lawn  carried  down  to  its 
very  edge,  with  many  slips  for  the  advantage  of  the  company  who 
shall  please  to  divert  themselves  in  boats  on  the  water,  flowing  in 
a  very  gentle  stream  about  two  rods  wide.  The  pleasure  grounds 
are  laid  out  in  most  agreeable  gravel-walks  kept  in  the  nicest 
order,  shaded  with  lofty  trees ;  they  are  extensive,  all  on  a  level, 
and  agreeable.  Leaving  these  delightful  walks  we  proceeded  to 
the  chapel ;  it  being  shut,  we  turned  our  walk  to  take  a  view  of 
the  other  buildings.  A  Mr.  Pearce,  a  fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
whom  I  met  in  the  walks,  invited  us  to  his  chamber,  where  we 
abode  a  few  minutes  to  look  in  a  book  for  an  answer  to  a  question 
I  put  them  concerning  the  age  of  an  ancient  manuscript  in  the 
University  library,  and  for  the  key  of  the  library,  to  which  he  con 
ducted  us.  It  is  not  a  handsome  room,  nor  contains  a  large  col 
lection  of  books;  it  was  scarcely  larger  than  our  old  Harvard 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  113 

College  library,  and  like  it  consisting  of  old  books  chiefly.  Mr. 
Prior  was  of  this  college,  and  left  it  a  noble  folio  volume  of  all  his 
works,  bound  in  morocco,  finely  gilt.  Here  we  also  saw  a  most 
elegant  folio  edition  of  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke's  Julius  Cassar's  Com 
mentaries. 

Having  returned  to  our  inn,  we  dined,  and  soon  departed  in  a 
post-chaise  through  a  very  level  road  to  our  designed  stage,  Bark- 
way,  distant  sixteen  miles,  where  we  lodged  and  breakfasted. 
This  very  indifferent  collection  of  old  fashioned  buildings  we  soon 
left,  and  entered  on  the  fine  improvements  of  Herts.  The  agreeable 
unevenness  of  the  earth,  the  verdure  of  the  fields  and  corn  grounds, 
and  excellent  improvements  for  which  this  county  is  noted,  rendered 
our  travelling  for  many  miles  delightfully  pleasant.  At  Ware 
alighted  in  two  hours  from  our  departure  from  the  last  stage,  stop 
ping  at  the  Saracen's  Head,  to  gratify  my  companions,  whose  curi 
osity  urged  them  to  take  a  view  of  the  great  bed,  which  I  before 
described,  and  made,  as  our  informant  told  us,  for  the  use  of  King 
Edward  IV.  in  1463.  From  hence  we  took  the  course  to  Hart 
ford,  lying  three  miles  out  of  our  direct  road  to  London,  and  in 
two  hours  from  hence  were  set  down  at  Judge  Sewall's  door,  after 
a  ramble  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  ;  and  so  good-by,  Essex, 
Suffolk,  and  Cambridgeshire. 

Passed  the  afternoon  and  evening  at  Judge  Sewall's. 

April  25.  With  Mr.  Savage  attended  Longford's  sales  under 
Covent  Garden  piazza — viewed  and  examined  his  medals  and 
coins;  Roman,  Grecian,  Egyptian,  Saxon,  and  English.  Saw  a 
brass  farthing  of  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  that  sold  for  three 
pounds  four. 

April  29.  Attended  the  exhibition  in  Piccadilly  of  Society  of 
Artists  of  Great  Britain  ;  was  really  surprised  at  the  meanness  of 
the  portraits ;  nothing  appeared  to  my  eye  well  executed  but  some 
fruit-pieces  and  a  few  miniatures  in  crayons  and  water  colors. 
From  hence  Mr.  Silsbee  and  myself  adjourned  to  Mr.  Joseph 
Green's ;  we  drank  tea  and  passed  a  pleasant  hour.  Stopped  by 
the  way  at  Ely  Palace,  so  called,  on  Holborn  hill,  now  sold  and 
pulling  down  to  build  two  rows  of  houses.  There  are  yet  standing 
the  chapel  and  hall  in  the  old  Gothic  taste. 

15 


114  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 


TO   REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SLDMOUTH,  DEVON, 

Brompton-Row,  April  30,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favor  of  the  25th  I  received  last  night,  and  am  obliged  to 
you  for  the  intelligence  it  contains ;  all  of  which  respecting  our 
own  country  was  new  to  me,  having  not  heard  a  syllable  of  it 
before ;  the  daily  news  inserted  in  the  public  papers  proves  for  the 
most  part  to  be  manufactured  here,  and  what  is  not,  in  event  turns 
out  to  be  premature  and  void  of  truth.  Nothing  can  be  depended 
on  but  what  comes  to  us  prepared  by  court  cookery  in  the  Gazette, 
nor  do  I  think  administration  to  blame  for  withholding  part,  the 
whole  truth  not  being  fit  to  be  divulged  in  these  captious,  licentious 
times.  I  have  wholly  laid  aside  all  regard  to  what  is  said  to  be 
brought  by  expresses  from  America,  but  what  comes  immediately 
from  General  or  Lord  Howe,  or  is  contained  in  the  American  news 
papers,  of  which  we  have  now  and  then  a  sight  in  the  New  Eng 
land  Coffee-house.  Nothing  very  important  has  of  late  come  from 
that  quarter,  except  the  death  of  General  Washington  and  the 
taking  of  Ticonderoga,  both  of  these  yet  being  matters  of  doubt 
and  dispute,  as  people  wish,  fear,  or  hope.  Since  my  last  I  have 
rambled  through  Essex,  Suffolk,  Cambridgeshire  and  Hertford  for 
five  days,  in  company  with  Judge  Sewall  and  Mr.  Abel  Willard, 
and  am  now  about  departing,  say  next  Monday,  for  Oxford,  and 
from  thence  quo  fata  trahant ;  designing  never  to  make  London 
or  its  environs  my  future  abode ; — the  inhabitants,  however,  I  hold 

in  much  higher  estimation  than  those  of  almost  every  other  place. 

******** 

God  bless  your  reverence,  and  succeed  your  pious  endeavors  to 
reform  your  flock,  and  I  hope  for  and  depend  on  your  prayers, 
and  remain, 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Brompton-Row,  Kensington,  May  1,  1777.  Dined  at  Gilbert 
Harrison's  with  my  friend  John  Timmins,  the  two  Debloises,* 
Benjamin  Faneuil,  and  two  ladies. 

*  Late  of  Salem. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  115 

May  3.  Dined  at  Judge  Sewall's ;  from  thence  walked  to 
London  to  engage  a  seat  in  the  diligence  to  Oxford,  designing  to 
take  that  city  in  my  way  to  the  country,  where  for  some  months 
I  propose  to  abide,  but  in  what  quarter  chance  must  determine.  I 
go  hence  like  Abraham  of  old  ;  may  the  same  kind  and  almighty 
Protector  be  my  guide  and  defence. 

May  5.  Departed  in  the  diligence,  in  which  we  found  a  late  Ox 
ford  scholar,  who  proved  a  pleasant,  chatty,  well-bred  companion ; 
the  road  for  the  first  eight  miles  as  far  as  Acton,  clear,  level  and 
pleasant  as  a  garden  gravel-walk  :  from  thence  it  assumed  a  differ 
ent  face,  and  from  Uxbridge  to  Oxford,  especially  through  Bucking 
hamshire,  generally  a  rich  soil  and  well  improved  lands.  The  other 
towns  lying  in  the  road  were  Beaconsfield  and  High  Wycombe ;  in 
the  latter  lies  Lord  Shelburne's  seat,  pleasure  grounds  and  park  all 
in  view  ;  a  little  beyond  is  Lord  Despenser's,  much  more  cultivated 
and  in  better  order.  On  the  right  and  on  an  eminence,  stands  an 
edifice  styled  "  the  Mausoleum,"  of  a  peculiar  construction  ;  but  the 
inclination  of  my  fellow  travellers  permitted  me  not  to  take  a 
nearer  view  than  the  transient  sight  as  we  passed  the  road.  From 
hence  through  a  parish  called  Stoken-Church,  and  on  bad  roads* 
we  arrived  at  the  Star  inn,  Oxford,  not  having  stopped  to  refresh ; 
here  we  called  for  dinner  and  engaged  lodgings. 

Oxford,  May  6.  After  breakfast  walked  out  to  deliver  Dr« 
Chandler's  letter  to  a  fellow  of  Queen's  College,  named  Monkhouse,, 
who  received  us  respectfully  enough,  detained  us  in  his  room  an 
hour,  and  from  thence  conducted  us  through  the  hall,  chapel,  libra 
ry  of  his  own  college,  and  after  settling  the  route  went  to  the  the 
atre,  Radcliffe  library,  Clarendon  press,  and  the  schools.  After  re 
peated  invitations  to  dine  in  their  hall,  we  declined  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  the  Oxford  Guide  in  our  retirement.  In  the  hall 
of  Jesus  College  were  admitted  to  a  sight  of  the  plate :  among 
others  is  a  bowl  and  ladle  of  silver  double  gilt,  and  holding  ten 
gallons,  the  gift  of  Sir  Watkins  William  Wynne ;  here  is  also  a 
book  of  the  college  statutes  written  on  vellum,  and  kept  in  a  glass 
case,  having  the  characters  as  perfect  and  just  as  if  struck  on  cop 
perplate.  From  hence  to  our  lodgings ;  soon  after  our  companion 
Mr.  Monkhouse  came  and  conducted  us  through  the  Radcliffe  In 
firmary,  open  to  all  the  nation,  and  filled  with  every  conceivable 


116  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777, 

accommodation  and  supply,  and  kept  in  the  neatest  order.  From 
thence  to  the  observatory,  and  from  thence  to  the  park,  being  a 
long  circular  laid  gravel  walk  round  the  improved  fields,  part  of 
which  is  bordered  by  lofty  elms ;  its  high  situation  affords  a  fine 
extended  prospect  of  the  country  under  high  cultivation ;  part  of 
the  city  on  the  other  side  adds  to  the  pleasure  of  the  walk. 

The  grounds  belong  to  Merton  College,  but  the  walks  are 
maintained  at  the  University  expense  and  common  to  it ;  on  our  re 
turn  back  we  met  two  gownsmen  both  of  our  college,  (Harvard,) 
one  of  whom  was  Dr.  Nicholson  mentioned  in  the  superscription  of 
our  letter,  with  whom  and  a  Mr.  Hamilton,  (a  partner  in  the  print 
ing  of  the  Oxford  Bibles  and  Prayer  Book,  the  sole  liberty  of  which 
is  confined  to  the  two  Universities  and  the  king's  press,)  and  a  few 
gentlemen  besides  in  the  common  room  which  all  the  colleges  are 
furnished  with.  7th.  Breakfasted  at  Mr.  Deblois's  by  invitation,  and 
after  returned  to  our  lodgings,  to  which  Mr.  Monkhouse  soon  came 
and  conducted  us  to  the  Divinity  school,  having  a  curious  roof  of 
stone,  and  in  as  bold  a  style  as  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge  ; 
from  thence  returned  back  into  the  convocation  room  ;  and  here 
we  spent  some  time  in  looking  into  the  statute  book  and  libro  nigro  ; 
in  the  anteroom  I  saw  the  vice  chancellor  in  his  robes  and  the  two 
proctors,  waiting  for  the  completing  a  convocation,  (consisting  of 
twelve  at  least.)  We  were  in  hopes  to  see  a  baccalaureate  degree 
given  to  one  of  the  students  of  Queen's  College,  but  the  difficulty 
of  making  a  convocation  delayed  the  ceremony  too  long  for  our 
leisure;  by  this  delay  was  deprived  of  a  sight  I  should  have  been 
greatly  pleased  with.  Hence  we  ascended  to  the  picture  gallery, 
and  from  thence  to  the  Bodleian  library,  which  did  not  come  up 
to  my  idea ;  'tis  an  old  room,  its  form  an  H ;  there  are  many  re 
cesses  surrounded  with  lattice  work  in  which  the  students  retire 
to  read,  transcribe,  etc.;  saw  but  few  employed  in  that  business. 
From  hence  we  passed  over  to  the  Ashmolean  museum  ;  here  we 
were  entertained  but  indifferently.  In  the  staircase  are  a  dead, 
Christ  of  Carrachi,  and  the  Tradescant  family,  by  what  hands  I 
know  not ;  in  the  room  a  small  miniature  of  St.  Cuthbert  in  a  gold 
gorget,  said  to  have  been  worn  by  Alfred  the  Great ;  some  very 
nice  frivolous  carvings  in  peach  and  cherry  stones  ;  the  hat  Brad- 
shaw  is  said  to  have  had  on  when  he  sat  in  judgment  and  condemn- 


1777.]  JOURNAL    AND     LETTERS.  117 

ed  king  Charles ;  the  skull  of  Cromwell,  said  to  be  known  by  a 
small  excrescence  on  the  bone  just  above  the  eye,  etc. 

Retreated  to  the  inn,  dined,  and  being  attended  by  G.  Deblois's 
father,  I  walked  to  Christ  Church  College,  the  most  noble  of  any 
in  the  University  ;  entered  the  picture  rooms,  crowded  by  paintings 
of  the  most  celebrated  masters,  being  the  gift  of  the  late  General 
Guise,  for  the  reception  of  which  these  rooms  were  fitted.  Above 
is  the  library  of  very  fine  bound  books,  placed  in  a  room  of  about 
two  hundred  feet  long,  sixty  wide,  and  twenty-five  high ;  the  ceil 
ing  finely  stuccoed  as  well  as  the  walls  in  each  kind  of.  relief,  in 
oval  and  other  figured  compartments.  The  books  are  in  cases  of 
oak,  handsomely  carved,  and  many  seats  in  the  same  style.  The 
hall  into  which  I  entered  whilst  some  of  the  students  were  at  din 
ner,  is  a  noble  room  of  the  length  apparently  of  the  library,  and 
wider ;  the  ceiling  is  of  oak,  supported  from  above,  and  in  the 
centre  of  each  square  compartment  into  which  it  is  laid,  is  a  gilt 
rose ;  the  walls  in  a  line  on  each  side  filled  with  portraits,  on  the 
ends  with  full  lengths.  I  remember  none  of  them  but  Lord  Mans 
field's,  over  the  door  in  his  judicial  robes.  Here  I  was  accosted 
by  a  well  bred  sensible  young  student,  with  whom  I  held  conversa 
tion.  Leaving  him  I  departed,  passing  through  the  walk  belong 
ing  to  this  college,  of  a  mile  in  length,  bordered  on  each  side  for 
part  of  the  way  by  lofty  trees,  rendering  it  most  delightful.  Our 
next  delay  was  at  Corpus  Christi,  into  the  chapel  of  which  I  just 
peeped,  and  from  thence  into  Oriel ;  both  of  these  are  small  foun 
dations.  Arriving  at  the  inn,  dismissed  my  attendant,  and  soon 
after  being  called  upon  according  to  promise  by  Mr.  Morikhouse, 
with  whom  I  went  to  the  schools.  In  two  apartments  the  Arun- 
delian  marbles  (and  collection  of  statues  presented  to  the  Univer 
sity  by  the  Countess  of  Pembroke)  are  kept ;  the  statues  are 
larger  and  smaller  than  the  life. 

From  hence  we  adjourned  to  Allsouls  College ;  the  house  for 
the  reception  of  the  books  was  built  by  Col.  Codrington,  formerly 
a  member  of  this  house,  whose  statue  in  white  marble  stands  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  a  noble  one  indeed ; — the  ceiling  and  walls 
elegantly  stuccoed,  the  books,  very  numerous,  stand  in  beautiful 
cases ;  a  fund  producing  two  thousand  pounds  a  year  is  allotted 
for  the  increasing  of  it ;  by  this  provision  it  will  in  time  become 


118  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1777. 

the  largest  and  best  in  the  University.  From  thence  we  adjourned 
to  the  chapel,  a  beautiful  room  ;  over  the  altar  stands  a  masterly 
performance  of  a  Mr.  Minkes,  the  Spanish  king's  painter,  of  Christ 
making  himself  known  to  Mary  Magdalene  in  the  garden,  just  at 
the  point  of  time  when  she  having  said  to  him,  "  If  thou  be  the 
gardener,  and  have  borne  him  hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid 
him ;"  he  replied,  "  Mary,"  and  she  turning  about  discovered  it 
was  the  Lord ;  this  filling  her  with  surprise,  admiration,  love,  a 
mixture  of  all  these  various  passions  is  finely  expressed  in  her 
countenance  ;  and  in  his,  self-composure,  dignity,  meekness.  Over 
this,  in  a  semi-circular  compartment,  are  many  full  lengths,  being 
the  assumption  of  the  founder  Henry  Chichely ;  he  is  dressed  in 
rich  robes,  his  eyes  raised  upwards,  attended  by  angels. 

From  this  pleasing  spot  we  proceeded  to  Christ  Church  Col 
lege,  in  Peckwater-square ;  meeting  Sir  Francis  Bernard*  with  a 
son  now  educating  here,  was  introduced  to  Doctor  Leigh  of  Baliol 
College,  who  was  elected  in  1727,  and  is  now  a  sprightly  and 
active  little  old  gentleman  of  eighty-six.  We  reached  the  church, 
said  to  be  almost  the  only  remains  of  a  public  building  in  the 
Norman  style,  supposed  to  have  been  standing  eight  or  nine  hun 
dred  years.  It  was  anciently  an  Abbey  church,  dedicated  to  St. 
Frideswide,  whose  tomb  is  yet  standing ;  here  we  were  shown 
several  pieces  of  richly  embossed  double  gilt  plate,  some  of  which 
were  dug  from  the  ruins  of  Oshey  Abbey,  where  it  had  been  lying 
for  ages.  The  old  abbey,  distant  from  hence  about  eight  miles,  has 
been  removed  to  this  spot.  Passed  this  evening  as  the  last,  in  the 
same  common  room,  and  with  the  same  company,  with  the  addition 
of  one  or  two  more,  hearing  many  sarcastic  speeches  concerning 
our  New  England  follies  and  absurdities  ;  but  every  country  has  its 
characteristic  ones,  and  that  comforts  me  under  the  but  too  just 
ridicule  we  are  loaded  with. 

May  8.  Took  our  farewell  of  G.  Deblois's  father  and  family — 
walking  out  in  order  to  take  our  last  leave  of  Mr.  Monkhouse, 
whom  we  met,  and  were  conducted  by  him  through  New  College 
and  its  pleasant  grounds,  and  back  to  the  inn  ;  making  our  ac 
knowledgments,  we  took  leave,  and  soon  entering  the  post-chaise, 

*  Governor  of  Massachusetts  from  1760  to  1769. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  119 

departed  for  Woodstock,  distant  six  miles,  through  dirty  roads ; 
were  set  down  at  the  Bear  inn.  We  loitered  through  the  town, 
and  at  three  o'clock,  the  hour  appointed  for  viewing  Blenheim 
House,  we  proceeded  to  the  park  gate,  an  enormous  portal,  in  the 
triumphal  style,  with  an  inscription  cut  in  the  list,  importing  by 
whom  and  when  it  was  erected ;  from  this  we  have  an  oblique 
view  of  that  enormous  load  of  building  called  Blenheim  House, 
the  first  sight  of  which  reminded  me  of  that  sarcastic  couplet  on 
the  architect : 

"  Lie  heavy  on  him,  earth,  for  he 
Hath  laid  a  cumbrous  pile  on  thee." 

The  near  approach  did  not  fail  to  add  to  the  disgust  I  first  re 
ceived  : — the  huge  piles  that  sustain  the  arcades,  the  almost  un- 
spannible  pillars,  and  the  inordinate  size  and  clumsiness  of  its 
outside  appearance,  were  fully  recompensed  by  the  elegance  and 
grandeur  of  the  rooms,  the  beauty  of  the  tapestry,  and  the  capital 
paintings  with  which  the  apartments  are  filled.  The  saloon  is  a 
noble  room ;  the  library  possesses  a  grandeur  and  elegance  inex 
pressible.  From  this  famed  edifice  we  returned  the  same  way  by 
which  we  entered,  took  a  post-chaise  and  rode  across  the  country 
to  Bicester,  through  fields  and  private  grounds,  passing  gates,  etc., 
the  soil  light  and  barren  ;  few  fields  of  grain,  but  chiefly  uninclosed 
heaths  for  sheep  walks.  This  town  has  no  manufactures,  wood 
scarce  and  coals  dear :  it  abounds  in  houses  for  the  sale  of  spirituous 
liquors ;  we  met  in  our  ramble  not  less  than  a  score.  Lodged  at 
the  King's  Arms,  the  most  magnificent  edifice  of  the  whole. 

Bicester,  May  9.  Departed  early  for  Buckingham,  and  alight 
ing  at  Lord  Temple's  Arms,  we  breakfasted,  and  soon  after  left  for 
Stow  Gardens,  passing  for  a  mile  over  a  straight,  level  road  through 
Lord  George  Germaine's  grounds,  adjoining  to  the  gardens  on  the 
borders  of  which,  and  facing  the  road,  stands  a  light,  lofty  trium 
phal  arch  ;  leaving  this  on  our  left,  we  proceeded  to  the  inn,  and 
from  thence  to  the  gate ;  being  admitted,  we  remained  two  hours 
in  going  through  the  gardens  and  house,  the  front  of  which  is  built 
in  a  more  pleasing  style  by  far  than  Blenheim,  not,  however,  to  be 
compared  to  it  in  extent  and  compass.  These  gardens  are  not  to  be 
matched  for  grandeur,  variety  and  taste  in  England,  perhaps  the 


120  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

world.  They  are  capable  of  amusing  for  a  much  longer  time  than 
I  could  allot,  being  viewed  by  me  currents  pede. — Having  trav 
ersed  the  pleasure  grounds  half  through,  we  arrived  at  the  house, 
the  front  of  which  has  a  very  noble  and  airy  appearance ;  ascend 
ing  a  lofty  flight  of  steps,  we  saw  an  elderly  person  sitting  on  a 
settee  in  half  mourning,  by  the  front  door  under  the  portico  sup 
ported  by  lofty  pillars  of  the  Corinthian  order;  approaching  nearer 
I  espied  a  star  on  his  right  breast,  by  which  I  recognized  Earl 
Temple.  Pulling  off  my  hat,  I  was  going  to  retire,  when  he  put 
his  hand  to  his  hat,  and  beckoned  with  the  other  to  approach, 
which  we  did,  and  entered  the  great  hall  yet  unfinished,  the  whole 
front  having  been  lately  taken  down ;  the  outside  is  finished,  but 
within  is  yet  in  hand  ;  many  of  the  rooms  are  in  disorder,  though 
enough  to  manifest  the  elegance  and  grandeur  of  the  owner's  taste 
and  riches.  From  hence  we  set  forward,  passing  through  my 
lord's  grounds  five  miles,  and  Whittlebury  Forest,  belonging  to  the 
estate  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  called  Easton ;  which,  with  the 
other  grounds  we  passed;  till  our  arrival  at  the  turnpike  road,  were 
insufferably  bad,  besides  being  delayed  by  a  multitude  of  gates,  for 
which  purpose  we  brought  a  young  lad  to  open  them.  The  ap 
pearance  of  the  earth  in  this  stage  was  greatly  altered  for  the  bet 
ter,  being  diversified  with  hills  and  dales  under  better  cultivation, 
and  the  nature  of  the  soil  more  fertile.  The  fences  for  many  miles 
of  rails,  such  as  are  frequent  in  our  own  country,  intended  to  defend 
the  young  live  hedges  just  set  out,  inclosures  here  just  beginning  to 
take  place.  At  4  o'clock  alighted  at  the  Saracen's  Head,  Wor 
cester  ;  here  we  abode  no  longer  than  to  dine,  and  taking  another 
post-chaise,  departed  for  Daventry,  passing  through  a  village 
called  Whadon,  where  we  supped  and  lodged, 

Daventry,  May  10.  A.  M.  Took  coach  for  Coventry,  passing- 
through  a  finely  improved,  fertile  country,  and  in  three  hours 
alighted  at  an  inn  just  without  the  city ;  a  regiment  of  horse 
called  the  Inniskilliners,  were  reviewing ;  a  body  of  stout,  likely 
men,  dressed  in  red  turned  up  with  buff",  and  exceedingly  well 
mounted. 

Coventry  is  an  old  built  city,  noted  for  the  ribbon  weaving  busi 
ness  ;  here  we  were  delayed  some  time ;  took  fresh  horses ;  our 
road  lay  over  a  new  canal  between  Oxford  and  the  last  mentioned 


1777.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  121 

city,  designed  for  the  cheaper  and  more  expeditious  conveyance  of 
coals  that  these  parts  abound  in,  by  which  the  former  will  be  sup 
plied  at  less  than  half  the  present  price.  In  our  road  lay  a  village, 
called  Dunchurch ;  a  little  beyond  is  a  long  terrace  road  raised 
above  the  level  nearly  three  feet,  and  continued  for  more  than 
three  miles  almost  in  a  straight  line,  and  bordered  on  each  side  by 
evergreens  and  elms,  planted  by  the  lord  of  the  royalty,  through 
whose  lands  it  runs,  rendering  it  inexpressibly  pleasing  to  the  eye 
of  the  traveller. 

From  Coventry  to  Birmingham  we  were  delayed  by  scores  of 
wagons  bound  from  thence,  laden  with  goods,  coals,  etc.,  and  at 
four  o'clock  alighted  at  the  Dolphin  inn,  Birmingham,  in  the  street 
called  the  Bullring,  where  we  intend  to  remain  ten  days,  (after  a 
circuit  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles,)  if  agreeable. 

Birmingham,  May  13.  Being  called  upon  by  Mr.  G.  Russell, 
we  set  off  on  foot  for  his  house  at  Moseley  Wake  Green,  having 
been  invited  the  Sunday  before  to  dine  on  this  day ;  our  company 
consisted  of  his  brother  and  lady  and  sister. 

May  17.  Waited  on  Mr.  Wilkinson  at  his  house,  but  he  was 
absent;  afterwards  went  with  my  companion  to  the  locks  on  the 
canal,  and  saw  several  boats  go  through,  an  amusing  sight  to  him 
which  he  had  never  seen  before. 

May  19.  Having  engaged  horses  the  night  before  at  eight 
o'clock,  booted  and  spurred  we  mounted  our  Rosinantes,  and  de 
parted  for  the  Leasowes,  late  pleasure  grounds  of  the  famed  Shen- 
stone,  and  Hagley,  the  estate  of  Lord  Littleton  ;  the  former  distant 
six  miles,  the  latter  eleven,  on  the  same  road.  Here  we  arrived 
at  eleven  o'clock,  passing  through  a  town  called  Hales  Owen,  of 
considerable  extent,  and  by  its  appearance  in  the  same  way  of 
business  as  Birmingham.  Attended  by  the  gardener  in  the  absence 
of  the  park  keeper,  we  walked  over  my  lord's  grounds,  almost  in 
the  centre  of  which  stands  Hagley  parish  church,  a  small  building 
in  a  shady  recess  ;  passing  this  we  ascended  an  eminence.  On  a 
plain  surrounded  on  all  sides  but  in  front  with  lofty  trees,  stands  a 
pillar  with  a  statue  of  the  late  Prince  of  Wales,  (father  of  his 
present  majesty,)  dedicated  to  his  memory  by  the  late  Lord  Little 
ton,  who  was  one  of  the  prince's  household  and  favorites.  This 
spot  commanded  a  sloping  view  of  a  pleasant  lawn,  bounded  by 

16 


122  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

the  mansion  house,  a  large  oblong  edifice  of  two  stories  and  an 
attic,  with  a  low  four-square  tower  on  each  angle,  and  a  flat  roof. 
The  exterior  of  the  house  is  plain  and  void  of  ornament ;  over 
the  lawns  are  planted  clumps  of  trees  by  which  the  views  are  di 
versified.  From  the  heights  in  narrow  channels  run  many  small 
streams,  one  discharging  itself  into  a  pool  filled  with  trout,  etc.  ; 
over  this  is  thrown  a  bridge  with  an  alcove.  The  grounds  contain 
in  extent  four  hundred  acres  ;  and  trees  are  planted  so  artificially 
as  to  yield  an  appearance  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  nature  a 
little  improved ;  here  are  to  be  seen  pillars,  urns,  rotundas,  alcoves 
and  field  seats  judiciously  disposed :  amongst  them  an  urn  dedi 
cated  to  the  memory  of  Alexander  Pope,  on  which  is  an  inscription 
savoring  of  flattery. 

Returning  by  the  way  we  went,  we  alighted  at  the  Golden 
Cross,  Hales  Owen,  where  we  were  furnished  with  a  room  by  our 
selves  and  dinner.  On  this  day  was  held  a  fair  in  this  town;  seeing 
a  large  multitude  collected  I  would  fain  have  mixed  with  the  people, 
but  the  curiosity  of  my  companion  not  prompting  him,  and  my 
fatigue  by  an  execrable  hard  trotter  rendering  me  indisposed  to 
needless  exercise,  prevented  our  seeing  the  humors  of  this  part  of 
the  country.  In  passing  the  road  a  few  furlongs  before,  we  arrived 
at  this  town ;  about  an  inn  were  collected  two  companies  of 
tradesmen  with  black  rods  tipped  with  brass.  They  assemble  at 
certain  times  and  are  under  certain  rules ;  have  a  public  box,  sup 
plying  a  fund  to  be  employed  in  maintaining  the  sick,  blind, 
wounded  and  disabled,  and  finally  burying  members  and  their 
wives.  Their  regulations  have  a  happy  tendency  to  promote 
among  the  laboring  handicraftsmen  cleanliness,  good  manners, 
order  and  sociability. 

The  road  to  Hagley  in  general  is  though  level  but  tolerably 
good ;  the  views  pleasing ;  at  two  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  Lea- 
sowes,  now  in  possession  of  a  Squire  Home.  Attended  by  the 
gardener  we  entered  through  what  is  called  the  priory  gate,  a 
gateway  and  arch  formed  by  old  stumps  and  moss,  communicating: 
with  a  serpentine  walk  on  a  shady  bank  of  a  stream  running  through 
a  craggy  wild  bottom  to  the  pool  now  emptied  of  its  waters.  It  is 
supplied  also  by  another  meandering  stream,  on  the  banks  of  which 
are  judiciously  placed  statues,  urns,  and  resting  seats,  from  each  of 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  123 

which  appear  most  agreeable  and  diverting  objects,  varied  from 
each  other  in  every  remove,  consisting  of  hills,  dales,  streams, 
houses,  and  clumps,  rows,  and  forests  of  trees  on  lands  in  high  culti 
vation.  The  closing  scene  was  a  natural  perspective  view  of  a 
charming  cascade  running  in  various  directions,  the  whole,  almost, 
the  eye  could  trace  through  bending  oaks  and  osiers,  from  a  spot 
whereon  is  placed  an  urn  inscribed  to  Virgil  and  called  his  grotto 
or  recess.  Hence  to  the  mossy  bower  or  grotto,  where  after  resting 
I  reluctantly  mounted  my  horse,  and  arrived  at  my  new  lodgings 
No.  20  Moor-street,  at  eight  o'clock,  much  fatigued. 


124  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Birmingham,  May  20,  1777.  Breakfasted  with  Mr.  G.  Rus 
sell,  and  with  him  proceeded  to  a  Mr.  Onion's,  in  order  to  have  a 
sight  of  his  auriculas  and  polyanthuses,  of  which  he  has  a  great 
variety,  and  of  the  finest  hues  and  stripes.  Mr.  Russell  having 
invited  company  to  meet  us,  we  returned  to  his  house  to  dinner, 
and  passed  the  day  agreeably.  Arrived  at  our  lodgings  before  nine 
o'clock. 

May  22.  A  fair  begins  here  to  day,  proclaimed  by  the  bailiffs, 
constables,  wardens,  etc.,  in  procession, beginning  at  eleven  o'clock. 
Streets  crowded,  many  people  coming  in  from  the  country ;  a  day 
of  jollity  rather  than  business,  and  the  evening  ends  in  riot,  drunk 
enness,  etc.  The  low  bailiff  is  the  first  officer  in  dignity,  and  by 
custom  is  chosen  from  the  dissenters.  He  nominates  the  jury,  who 
appoints  the  constables ;  he  also  presides  in  the  courts  leet,  gives  a 
yearly  feast,  and  has  no  further  concern  in  town  affairs.  His  service 
continues  a  year.  The  high  constable  inspects  the  markets,  and  is 
appointed  for  life  by  the  lord  lieutenant  of  the  county. 

May  24.  Walked  to  Soho  Gardens ;  the  grounds  naturally 
capable  of  improvements  in  a  high  degree  ;  they  already  consist  of 
gravel  walks  in  the  serpentine  form,  shrubbery,  flower  borders,  an 
occasional  cascade  running  down  a  narrow  pebbled  canal,  and 
emerging  into  a  pond  below,  containing  two  islands.  Took  an 
afternoon  ramble  with  my  companion  to  Ashton  Park,  now  in  pos 
session  of  Lady  Holt,  about  two  miles  distant ;  the  richness  of  the 
soil  and  high  cultivation  they  are  in,  almost  ravished  my  companion. 
It  is  almost  surrounded  with  a  lofty  brick  wall,  and  is  agreeably 
diversified  by  rows  of  trees,  clumps  and  single  trees,  with  many 
large  spots  of  clean  lands.  The  house  is  of  brick  in  the  old  Gothic 
style,  very  large,  having  battlements  on  its  top  and  round  turrets. 
The  church  standing  on  the  lands  and  adjoining  the  avenues  of 
the  mansion  house  of  the  estate  of  Sir  Charles  Holt,  is  remarkable 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  125 

for  the  smallness  of  the  building,  and  the  loftiness  of  the  tower 
and  spire.  Returned  home  not  a  little  fatigued. 

May  26.  Left  Birmingham  for  Sheffield,  our  first  intended 
stage  being  the  city  of  Litchfield,  sixteen  miles ;  roads  level  and 
sandy,  the  lands  in  sight  barren  and  uninclosed.  Just  without  the 
city,  and  in  a  field  adjoining,  we  saw  for  the  first  time  the  English 
militia ;  the  men  were  as  likely  and  wrell  accoutred  as  the  king's 
troops,  and  as  clean  and  well  dressed.  Arrived  at  the  George  inn, 
where  we  bespoke  dinner,  and  while  it  was  preparing,  walked 
forth  to  view  the  city  and  cathedral ;  the  former  of  about  eight 
thousand  inhabitants,  houses  mostly  in  the  old  style,  few  shops  and 
little  appearance  of  business.  The  cathedral  is  a  venerable  pile  ; 
round  the  western  part  of  the  building  stand  in  mutilated  condition 
many  statues,  being  defaced,  as  some  of  its  inside  ornaments  were 
by  the  zealots  of  Cromwell's  party  in  the  unhappy  times  of  Charles 
I.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  within  except  a  curiously  wrought 
screen  of  stone,  separating  the  altar  from  the  chapel  of  the  Ten 
Virgins,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated,  and  where  prayers  at  six  in  the 
morning  are  daily  said.  The  niches  in  which  the  Virgins  stood 
have  remained  unfilled  ever  since  the  pious  purgators  of  those 
times  of  confusion  before  mentioned  ;  and  as  another  instance  of 
their  enthusiastic  madness,  they  broke  to  pieces  all  the  stained 
glass  belonging  to  this  church.  Over  the  western  door  is  an  in 
scription,  stating  that  this  church  was  erected  in  the  657th  year  of 
the  Christian  era,  was  endowed  by  OfTa  in  the  Saxon  times,  and 
by  Henry  II.  and  Richard  I.  since.  In  a  flat  tomb  against  the  fourth 
wall  lies  a  Dean  Hay  wood,  who,  many  years  since,  fantastically 
attempting  to  imitate  our  Saviour  in  fasting  forty  days,  died  in  four 
teen,  a  martyr  to  his  folly  ;  two  statues,  one  resembling  him  in  his 
full  bulk,  and  the  other  in  his  emaciated  state,  remain  as  monu 
ments  to  perpetuate  his  impious  folly. 

From  this  survey  we  returned  to  dinner.  Arrived  at  Burton  at 
four  o'clock,  over  roads  almost  an  entire  level,  as  soft  as  a  carpet, 
and  in  a  straight  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  At  the 
distance  of  eight  miles  fr6m  our  last  stage  we  passed  the  Trent, 
near  to  where  the  great  Staffordshire  canal  (joining  the  Trent  and 
Severn)  begins ;  crossing  and  recrossing  it,  and  travelling  on  its 
banks  and  within  sight  for  many  miles.  This  canal  is  carried  over 


126  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1777. 

the  small  river  Dove  and  many  streams.  Took  our  departure  for 
Derby ;  the  roads  as  pleasing  as  last  stage  till  near  the  town,  when 
the  face  of  the  country  became  hilly  and  uneven,  yielding  a  new 
picture  to  the  eye.  Stopped  at  the  George-and-Dragon  inn, 
Derby;  took  tea,  and  accompanied  by  my  fellow  traveller,  rambled 
through  the  town,  which  appears  to  be  of  considerable  extent, 
having  four  Episcopal  churches.  The  streets  are  paved  with  small 
pebbles ;  some  of  them  of  a  convenient  width,  the  rest  narrow, 
having  a  gutter  in  the  middle,  common  to  most  of  the  paved  towns. 
Here  is  a  square,  paved,  serving  as  a  parade  for  the  military,  par 
ties  of  which  are  posted  in  every  great  town.  One  side  is  built  on 
arches,  forming  a  shelter  for  the  inhabitants  from  inclement 
weather.  There  is  great  appearance  of  trade,  and,  indeed,  the  silk 
mills,  flatting  and  rolling  mills,  and  lead  works,  employ  many 
hands.  Here  are  also  many  shops,  which  for  size  and  arrange 
ment  resemble  those  of  London. 

Derby,  May  27.  We  visited  the  famous  silk  mills,  and  were 
told  by  the  master  workman  that  ninety-seven  thousand  movements 
were  set  to  work  by  a  single  large  water  wheel.  The  house  is 
two  hundred  feet  long  and  thirty-six  feet  wide,  and  has  five  floors, 
each  filled  by  machines. 

From  thence  made  a  visit  to  the  porcelain  manufactory ;— the 
principal  ingredient  is  common  flint  stones  reduced  to  an  impalpa 
ble  powder  after  being  broken  in  a  water  mill.  All  the  images 
are  cast  in  very  small  parts  at  first,  joined  together  by  hand,  as  the 
head,  the  hands,  etc. ;  the  moulds  are  made  of  plaster  of  Paris,  and 
not  bigger  than  the  outside  shell  of  a  large  walnut,  which  they 
resemble,  aud  like  them  consist  of  four  parts.  The  fancy  pieces, 
as  flowers,  images,  etc.,  are  formed  a  clear  liquor  poured  into  the 
moulds  ;  in  less  than  two  minutes,  by  absorbing  the  liquor,  leaves 
a  solid  figure,  which  after  it  is  dried  is  painted,  gilded,  etc.,  and 
passes  the  fire  four  several  times,  and  if  gilt  undergoes  polishing  to 
bring  it  to  its  lustre. 

From  this  cursory  survey  we  returned  to  our  inn,  and  departed 
for  Lord  Scarsdale's  seat,  called  Kiddlestone,  four  miles  distant. 
Arrived  at  the  portal  and  lodge  in  the  form  of  a  triumphal  arch 
built  of  stone ;  through  this  we  were  admitted  into  the  park,  ob 
servable  for  the  greatest  quantity  of  large  white  oaks  and  elms. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  127 

About  a  mile  from  the  entrance  over  a  straight,  clean  carpet  road, 
we  came  to  the  lawn  terminated  by  the  house,  making  a  noble  ap 
pearance  ;  passing  a  large  handsome  stone  bridge  thrown  over  a 
fine  stream  made  by  art.  On  the  lawn,  on  every  side  of  the  house, 
are  large  single  oaks,  also  many  clumps  and  rows,  which  with  the 
great  herds  of  horned  cattle  make  a  most  picturesque  view.  The 
entrance  to  the  house  is  by  a  double  flight  of  steps  under  a  grand 
portico,  being  formed  of  noble  columns  supporting  a  pediment, 
having  in  front  my  lord's  arms,  and  crowned  on  the  top  with  three 
female  figures,  erect,  representing  plenty,  peace,  and  wisdom. 
The  centre  contains  the  great  hall,  and  on  the  back  front  the  sa 
loon  ;  the  ceiling  of  the  former  is  supported  by  fourteen  red  veined 
alabaster  fluted  pillars  of  the  Corinthian  order  on  each  side ;  its 
height  40  feet,  length  67,  and  width  42  ;  the  pannels  of  the  doors 
light  airy  papier  mache  manufacture  ;  the  designs  are  from  Greek 
and  Roman  mythology ;  the  flooring  the  most  beautiful  clear  oak, 
taken  from  my  lord's  forests,  as  the  pillars  are  from  his  own 
quarry,  and  bear  an  excellent  polish.  The  wings  are  connected 
by  circular  corridors,  and  in  each  wing  twenty-one  rooms  on  a  floor 
elegantly  finished  and  furnished.  The  state  bed  has  very  curiously 
carved  posts,  its  furniture  and  hangings  blue  damask;  my  lady's 
dressing  plate  the  greatest  in  quantity  of  any  I  have  seen  except 
the  queen's,  and  is  silver  embossed  double  gilt.  My  lady  was  at 
home,  and  remained  to  indulge  us  with  a  sight  of  every  part  of  the 
house.  The  living  of  my  lord  and  lady  when  in  the  country  is 
quite  in  the  family  way.  Their  eldest  daughter,  going  in  a  loose 
country  dress  to  take  a  ramble  over  the  lawn,  on  discovering  us 
retreated  back  and  disappeared.  This  house  for  situation,  elegance 
and  grandeur  united,  need  not  yield  to  any. 

From  this  pleasing  spot  we  departed  for  Ashburn,  the  first 
town  on  the  peak;  'tis  a  country  town,  has  a  market  and  an  Epis 
copal  church,  but  is  remarkable  for  nothing  that  I  could  learn  ex 
cept  its  being  a  station  for  those  whose  curiosity  brings  them 
rather  to  view  Dovedale  and  Islam  gardens,  the  residence  of  old 
Chaucer,  where  strangers  are  shown  the  very  spot  in  which  he 
wrote  many  of  his  pieces. 

May  28.  Rising  early  we  departed  in  a  post-chaise  for  Cas- 
tleton,  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  Devil's  Peak ;  the  road  is 
over  bare  and  dreary  hills  ;  the  whole  country  that  is  inclosed  is  by 


128  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

stone  walls,  being  extremely  barren  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  bushes, 
many  hundred  acres  together  not  having  the  appearance  of  either. 
The  divisions  of  land  much  larger  than  to  be  met  with  elsewhere, 
and  scarce  a  house  to  be  seen,  being  situated,  I  presume,  in  bottoms 
laid  from  the  road ;  the  sheep  are  small,  and  distinguished  from  all 
others  by  a  kind  of  ruff  or  ridge  of  long  hair  round  the  neck  ;  from 
the  plain  wre  descended  into  the  town,  lying  in  the  bottom,  in  a 
road  encompassing  half  the  ridge  of  mountains,  extending  to  a  great 
length  from  hence ;  this  road  in  many  places  is  very  steep,  and  at 
almost  every  step  hazardous,  and  the  accident  of  the  horses  stum 
bling,  the  reins  breaking,  or  wheels  coming  off,  would  throw  one 
down  a  precipice,  when  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  could  preserve 
him  from  destruction.  The  tower  of  the  church,  of  an  ordinary 
height,  when  first  discovered  seemed  to  be  many  hundred  feet  be 
neath  us.  Arrived  at  the  George  inn,  and  took  the  guide,  who 
seasonably  arrived  with  some  gentlemen  whom  he  had  just  at 
tended  through  the  cavern. 

Set  off  from  the  inn  to  visit  this  remarkable  subterraneous 
frightful  pit,  etc.,  distance  from  hence  about  five  hundred  yards ;  the 
entrance  is  between  two  lofty  eminences,  almost  perpendicular,  or 
rather  overhanging,  of  a  height  eighty-seven  yards ;  its  appearance 
awfully  great  and  terrifying ;  part  is  craggy  and  clothed  in  trees 
and  shrubs.  The  passage  into  this  natural  cave  is  under  an  arch 
fourteen  yards  high  and  forty  wide,  rising  somewhat  higher; 
within  the  first  cave  resides  a  woman  of  thirty-seven  years  of  age, 
who  was  bom  in  a  hut  here,  and  has  inhabited  it  ever  since ; — 
besides  her,  here  are  dwelling  two  more  families,  and  several  of 
the  town's  people  who  daily  resort  here  to  labor  in  the  twine  spin 
ning,  in  which  business  more  than  a  score  are  daily  employed. 
Lip'ht  enough  is  admitted  to  do  that  and  any  common  work  ;  from 

O  O  * 

the  mouth  to  the  further  end  of  post  cavern  is  eighty  yards,  and 
from  thence  to  the  first  water  is  seventy  yards,  making  in  all  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards.  Over  this  water,  fourteen  yards  in  length, 
I  was  conveyed  in  a  small  boat,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  distance 
lying  on  my  back ;  the  arch  being  too  low  to  sit  upright.  The  depth 
of  the  water  is  two  and  a  half  feet,  which  the  guide,  Robert  Dakin, 
waded  through,  pushing  the  boat  before  him.  My  companion 
choosing  me  to  explore  the  unknown  regions,  I  first  entered,  and 
he  took  the  second  passage,  and  I  waited  for  him  before  I  pro- 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS..  129 

ceeded.  At  the  further  end  of  the  first  cave,  a  good  woman  with 
a  dozen  candles  attended  to  furnish  each  of  us  with  one,  which, 
having  lighted,  each  took  in  his  hand  and  proceeded  from  the 
first  water,  one  by  one,  in  a  narrow  path  to  another  cavern  distant 
ninety  yards,  the  width  of  which  was  seventy  yards,  and  height 
forty ;  from  hence  at  a  small  distance  is  the  second  water,  over 
which  I  was  carried  first  on  our  guide's  back  ten  yards ;  its  depth 
is  perhaps  a  foot.  My  companion  next  followed  at  the  right  of 
the  attendants,  and  forded  it  on  foot.  Our  next  stage  was  in  a 
cave  called  Roger  Rains,  from  a  continual  dropping  through  the 
rocks  and  earth.  The  entrance  to  the  grand  cavern  is  under  an 
arch  fifteen  rods  high ;  this  forms  a  kind  of  hanging  gallery,  on 
the  top  of  which  stood  seven  singers,  each  holding  a  lighted  candle 
in  his  hand.  They  entertained  us  with  "  Fill,  fill  the  glasses  ;" 
the  splendor  of  the  lights  reflected  from  the  vaulted  roof,  and  the 
grand  echo,  pleased  us  beyond  expression.  On  our  return  we  were 
saluted  by  this  same  company  with  "  God  save  the  king."  From 
hence  we  went  forward  to  the  Devil's  cellar ;  of  the  origin  of  this 
name  we  could  not  be  informed ;  there  is  nothing  in  its  appear 
ance  hideous,  nor  from  whence  we  could  conjecture  its  name. 
Here  we  descended  fifty  yards  on  a  road  of  firm  sand,  and  from 
hence  the  path  leads  to  the  cascade,  which  is  heard  at  con 
siderable  distance  ;  the  discharge  is  by  a  stream  dividing  itself  into 
two  channels,  crossing  the  cavern  and  continued  under  the  hill,  at 
the  bottom  of  which,  at  its  opposite  foot,  it  forms  a  small  river. 
From  hence  to  a  place  called  "  the  top,"  and  thence  to  the 
four  regular  arches,  as  regular  as  if  formed  by  design ;  and  from 
hence  to  Tom  of  Lincoln,  (so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  the  top 
of  a  bell  and  its  enormous  magnitude,)  and  from  thence  to  the  ex 
tremity  of  the  cavern,  distant  from  its  mouth  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  yards.  The  level  at  the  further  end  of  the  cavern  was  taken 
by  Doctor  Solander  and  Mr.  Banks,  and  is  two  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  ; — the  charming  appearance  of  the  external  light  on  our  ap 
proach  towards  the  first  cave,  on  our  return  back,  excited  a  most 
pleasing  sensation.  Over  the  cavern  is  an  ancient  fortification  in 
the  Roman  manner.  After  discharging  the  customary  dues  for 
candles,  singers,  etc.,  through  a  crowd  of  beggars  who  always 
attend  strangers  at  the  mouth  on  their  return,  which  \ve  were  cau- 

17 


130  JOURNAL  AND  LETTERS.  [1777,. 

tioned  to  neglect,  passed  on  to  our  inn,  where  we  dined,  and  soon 
departed  for  Sheffield,  where  we  arrived  about  six  o'clock,  and 
alighted  at  the  George  inn. 

Sheffield,  May  29.  Presented  an  introductory  letter  from  Mr, 
George  Russell  of  Birmingham  to  his  correspondent,  a  Mr.  Broom- 
head,  whose  reception  of  us  at  first  was  cool,  but  his  after  de 
meanor  and  hospitality  much  more  than  counterbalanced  the 
former ;  I  rather  imputed  it  to  an  honest  bluntness  and  ignorance 
of  forms.  He  is  a  wealthy  cutler,  whose  principal  business  lay  in 
the  American  line.  Attended  by  him  we  walked  round  the  town 
to  several  branches,  as  rolling  mills,  grinding  cutlery,  white  lead 
mill,  etc.  After  dinner  strolled  amongst  the  multitude  to  the  race 
ground  called  "  Crooke's  Moor ;"  the  number  supposed  to  be  full 
twenty  thousand.  From  a  lofty  stand  opposite  the  ground  I  had  a 
full  view  of  the  race ;  four  heats  were  run,  the  first  by  seven  horses  ; 
the  plate,  a  silver  gilt  cup,  worth  seventy  pounds,  was  gained 
by  a  horse  called  "  Why  not,"  who,  on  the  two  first  heats  was 
almost  distanced.  The  humors  of  the  race  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  in  perfection  ;  the  different  passions  wherewith  they  were 
agitated  afforded  me  no  small  diversion.  The  horses  were  called 
by  the  names  of  their  riders,  who  were  differently  clothed,  as  pink, 
orange,  scarlet,  striped,  etc.  etc.  The  plate  procured  by  subscrip 
tion  of  the  town,  was  carried  by  the  constable  attended  by  the  town 
officers  in  their  habits,  preceded  by  a  flag.  On  the  ground  were 
erected  many  stands,  and  all  filled ;  the  last  heat  was  scarcely 
over  till  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

May  30.  Called  on  Mr.  J.  Broomhead,  and  with  him  walked 
through  the  town  to  the  colliery,  so  called,  being  a  road-way 
from  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  pits  to  the  yard,  in  which  the  coal 
is  taken  up  into  carts  and  conveyed  to  town  ;  the  descent  easy, 
and  by  means  of  a  spring,  the  carts,  without  horses,  under  the  guid 
ance  of  a  man,  being  conveyed  by  a  sort  of  self-motion  for  more 
than  a  mile.  At  the  end  of  the  way  the  carts  are  run  on  stages, 
through  which,  by  tilting  them,  the  contents  are  discharged.  After 
a  view  of  this  curious  contrivance,  we  retired  homewards,  but 
meeting  Mr.  Aspden  of  Philadelphia,  a  gentleman  with  whom  we 
dined  at  Mr.  Smith's  in  Birmingham  a  few  days  before,  agreed  to 
join  company,  and  immediately  departed  in  a  stage  coach  from 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  131 

Sheffield,  and  arrived  at  Black  Barnsley  through  a  delightful  though 
uneven  road  ;  distance  fourteen  miles.  Here  we  took  post-chaises, 
and  in  two  hours  alighted  at  Wakefield,  a  clothing  town,  wherein 
appear  evident  tokens  of  taste  in  building  and  of  wealth ;  the  av 
enues  to  it  delightful,  the  roads  like  a  carpet  walk,  on  one  side  a 
raised  terrace  walk  for  foot  passengers,  flagged  for  more  than  two 
miles;  the  lands  hereabouts  excellent,  and  under  the  most  improved 
cultivation.  The  Westgate-street  has  the  noblest  appearance  of 
any  I  ever  saw,  out  of  London  ;  its  pavements  in  the  best  order  ;  its 
length  near  half  a  mile,  and  width  ten  rods.  Were  it  not  for 
some  old,  low  buildings,  London  could  not  boast  a  more  magnifi 
cent  street.  It  has  a  very  large  Episcopal  church,  with  a  remark 
ably  lofty  tower  and  spire.  The  principal  character  in  the  novel 
called  "  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield"  was  taken  from  the  late  vicar  of 
this  church,  named  Johnson,  whose  peculiarly  odd  and  singular  hu 
mor  has  exposed  his  memory  to  the  ridicule  of  that  satire.  We 
soon  after  departed  for  Leeds  in  a  post-chaise,  through  good  roads 
and  fertile  lands :  from  Sheffield  to  Leeds  the  face  of  the  country 
is  more  pleasing,  the  lands  in  better  improvement  and  more  peo 
pled,  than  in  more  than  twenty  counties  1  have  passed  through  in 
England;  alighted  at  the  "Old  King's  Arms"  at  nine  o'clock, 
where  we  supped  and  lodged. 

Leeds,  May  31.  Sent  our  names  to  S.  Elam  and  waited  break 
fast  ;  he  soon  came,  but  having  taken  his,  declined  partaking  with 
us.  We  walked  forth  under  his  guidance,  and  took  dinner  with 
him  afterwards  ;  rambled  to  a  village  called  Armley,  to  see  a  scrib 
bling  mill,  by  which  more  wool  is  discharged  than  ten  hands  can 
do  in  the  same  time.  It  is  performed  by  a  horse,  but  its  construc 
tion  cannot  be  described,  not  being  exposed  to  open  view,  it  being 
a  favor  shown  to  Mr.  Elam,  on  whose  account  we  were  favored 
with  a  sight  of  it.  Too  nice  an  inspection  would  have  excited  sus 
picion,  which  we  wished  to  avoid.  The  manufacturers  of  every 
kind  through  England  are  not  pleased  to  admit  strangers  to  a  sight 
of  the  machines  and  process  of  their  business.  From  thence  we 
returned  back  on  the  sides  of  the  canal,  which  for  the  first  time  is 
to  be  opened  with  ceremony  next  Wednesday  ;  no  part  of  it  has 
hitherto  been  used. 

June  2.     This  town  is  said  to  contain  ten  thousand  people, 


132  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1777. 

many  well-filled  shops,  and  various  trades;  its  principal  business  in 
narrow  and  coarse  woollen  cloths,  consigned  to  foreign  orders,  but 
little  to  London  or  inland  trade ;  many  of  its  merchants  are 
wealthy.  It  has  a  large  cloth  market  of  brick,  of  three  ranges, 
each  range  having  two  walks,  and  the  walks  are  called  King-street, 
Queen-street,  Cheapside,  etc.  Set  off  for  Huddersfield,  distant  six 
teen  miles,  and  is  the  town  to  which  the  merchants  of  Leeds,  Hali 
fax  and  Wakefield  resort  to  buy  cloths  from  the  clothiers  abounding 
in  this  neighborhood.  The  town  of  Huddersfield  is  very  old-built, 
and  has  a  wretched  appearance.  The  butchery  was  built  by  Sir 
.John  Ramsey,  proprietor  of  the  land,  whose  rent  is  seventy  pounds. 
After  dinner  we  entered  a  post-chaise  for  Halifax,  where  we  arrived 
at  six  o'clock. 

This  town  is  supposed  to  be  larger  than  Leeds;  its  streets, if  it 
can  be  said  to  have  any,  are  excellently  paved,  and  have  a  conve 
nient  flagged  walk  on  each  side  raised  j  lying  uneven  they  are 
always  clean ;  but  in  general  they  are  narrow  and  short,  each  end 
bounded  by  a  triangular  house ;  many  large  and  well-built  ones 
in,  but  more  just  without  the  town.  The  situation  of  the  town  is 
on  an  uneven,  low  eminence,  surrounded  by  lofty  hills  on  all  sides 
in  the  most  improved  condition,  laid  out  in  lots  bounded  by  live 
hedges,  rows  of  trees,  and  stone  walls,  almost  as  even  as  the  walls 
of  a  house.  The  whole  country  for  many  miles  within  view 
abounds  in  manufactories  and  farm  houses ;  the  people  here  are 
numerous  and  industrious,  their  houses  very  cleanly.  Amongst 
other  kinds  of  good  conduct,  we  in  our  rambles  saw  fifteen  chil 
dren  employed  in  bending  wires  and  preparing  them  in  the  various 
branches  of  card  making,  and  were  told  their  earnings  were  from 
two  and  sixpence  to  five  shillings  a  week ;  which  employment 
not  only  keeps  their  little  minds  from  vice,  but  renders  them  early 
capable  of  providing  for  their  own  support,  and  takes  a  heavy  bur 
den  from  their  poor  parents.  We  entered  a  nap-raising  mill  j  the 
process  is  performed  by  laying  a  cloth  under  an  instrument  divided 
into  little  squares  of  the  diameter  of  the  nap  designed  to  be  raised, 
or  rather  larger,  carried  by  water.  This  instrument  is  about  eight 
feet  long  and  two  feet  wide,  and  is  jostled  backwards  and  for 
wards  by  means  of  a  little  gage  filled  with  teeth  suited  to  a  cog 
wheel,  which  receives  its  motion  from  another  communicating 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  133 

with  the  great  wheel.  By  Mr.  AspderTs  desire,  we  accompanied 
him  immediately  on  our  arrival  to  a  Mr.  Rawson's  seat,  a  little 
out  of  Halifax,  called  "Stony-ride"  meaning  Stony -road,  the  road 
to  it  being  stony,  (the  Yorkshire  people  often  using  an  i  for  an  o.) 
This  was  a  friend  to  whom  he  had  a  letter ;  neither  Mr.  Rawson 
nor  his  sons  were  at  home ;  but  soon  after  our  return  to  the  inn 
one  of  his  sons  came,  and  would  have  engaged  us  to  accompany 
him  back,  but  it  being  late,  we  declined  it  for  this  evening,  which 
he  passed  and  supped  with  us. 

Halifax,  June  3.  Rambled  with  my  companions  to  the  lofty 
surrounding  hills,  from  whence  we  had  an  ample  view  of  the 
town  ;  only  one  parish  church,  the  mother  of  twelve  of  the  neigh 
boring  ones  ;  sectaries  of  various  kinds  abound  here.  By  the  man 
ufacturers  living  hereabouts  there  is  building  of  stone,  a  large  and 
commodious  market  house,  containing  a  square  of  one  hundred  and 
ten  yards  by  ninety  ;  its  lower  story  is  fronted  by  short  square  pil 
lars,  forming  arcades,  on  the  back  part  of  which  are  rooms  for 
each  separate  manufacturer,  of  twelve  feet  by  eight,  and  before 
the  rooms  a  covered  walk  of  four  feet  wide ;  the  second  story  is 
supported  by  square  pillars  cut  into  rustic,  with  a  walk  before  as 
below,  but  more  open  and  spacious,  the  pillars  not  being  so  large. 
The  floor  of  the  third  story  is  surrounded  by  Doric  pillars  support 
ing  the  roof,  containing  the  same  accommodations  as  below  ;  the 
height  of  each  story  twelve  feet.  The  town  is  all  built  of  stone, 
very  irregular,  but  its  streets  the  best  paved  of  any  town  in  Eng 
land,  London  not  excepted,  and  from  the  unevenness  of  the  ground 
always  clean.  By  the  hospitality  of  Mr.  Rawson  we  were  de 
layed  here  for  two  days,  whose  importunity  would  not  suffer  us  to 
depart  till  Thursday  the  fifth.  We  passed  our  time  pleasantly 
enough  in  visiting  among  other  things  his  copperas  works ;  the 
copperas  made  from  that  part  of  common  pit  coal  called  slate, 
charged  with  sulphur ;  its  process  easy  and  short,  being  collected 
and  thrown  into  a  large  heap,  perhaps  of  two  or  three  hundred 
tons; — water  poured  on  it,  which,  filtering  through,  passes  by 
pipes  into  an  underground  cistern  or  large  receiver,  is  boiled,  and 
from  thence  carried  into  a  smaller  cistern  like  the  distillers';  there 
remaining  until  it  cools  and  crystallizes. 

Thursday,  June  5.     Departed  from  Halifax  in  a  post-chaise, 


134  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

taking  leave  of  our  late  companion  Aspden,  who  left  us  at  the  inn 
for  Preston,  on  horseback.  Pursuing  the  road  we  ascended  a  long 
hill  of  more  than  a  mile,  and  soon  arrived  at  a  very  lofty  ridge  of 
the  most  desolate  and  forlorn  appearance,  called  Blackstone  Edge, 
continuing  for  several  miles.  The  road  level,  hard  and  straight, 
and  on  that  score  pleasant ;  the  land  waste  and  of  a  russet  hue, 
covered  with  furze  j  not  a  tree,  shrub,  bush  or  plant,  hedge  or  wall 
to  be  seen.  From  hence  we  descended  into  low  grounds,  well  in 
habited  and  improved  ;  in  one  respect  this  part  of  England  is  more 
pleasing  than  the  others;  the  grounds  are  covered  with  houses, 
each  manufacturer  having  a  small  farm  or  parcel  of  land  besides 
his  trade  to  depend  on,  there  being  more  freeholders  or  owners  of 
small  farms  and  plantations  here  than  in  any  county  of  the  king 
dom.  We  arrived  at  Rochdale  about  two  o'clock,  engaged  din 
ner,  and  took  a  ramble.  The  church  stands  on  a  hill,  to  which 
the  ascent  is  by  a  hundred  stone  steps.  This  town  is  remarkable 
for  many  wealthy  merchants ;  it  has  a  large  woollen  market,  the 
merchants  from  Halifax,  etc.,  repairing  hither  weekly  ;  the  neigh 
borhood  abounds  in  clothiers.  From  hence  the  road  to  Manches 
ter,  distant  about  thirteen  miles,  is  level  and  sandy,  the  soil  light, 
the  general  nature  of  the  land  in  this  county,  where  the  people 
speak  an  uncouth,  peculiar  dialect,  unintelligible  to  the  ears  of 
strangers.  About  six  o'clock  we  alighted  at  the  "  Spread-eagle 
inn,"  and  procured  private  lodgings  at  Mrs.  Barlow's,  next  door  to 
the  inn. 

Manchester,  June  6.  Walked  out  to  the  Duke  of  Bridge  water's 
canal,  and  on  its  banks  met  Mr.  Nelson,  w'ho  for  some  time  lodged 
at  Mrs.  Leavitt's  in  Salem,  New  England  ;  he  is  from  Ireland, 
passing  through  the  manufacturing  towns  to  London.  We  stepped 
into  St.  John's  church,  a  small  but  elegant  edifice  in  Gothic  style ; 
over  the  altar  is  a  fine  stained-glass  window,  executed  at  York ; 
three  erect  images  of  St.  Peter,  Christ,  and  St.  James,  the  colors 
quite  lively,  which  the  meridian  lustre  of  the  sun's  rays  not  a  little 
assisted.  In  the  vestry  is  another  window  by  the  same  hand  ;  on 
this  is  stained  the  founder's  name,  a  Squire  Byrom.  This  church 
was  finished  in  1769 ;  its  tower  is  crowned  with  battlements  and 
high  pinnacles ;  the  body  of  the  church  having  such  also  all 
around  its  roof.  From  hence  we  adjourned  to  the  Castlefield,  to 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  135 

see  the  exercise  of  the  militia,  making  as  good  appearance  as  the 
king's  troops  in  discipline  and  dress.  This  field  is  an  eminence  of 
oval  form,  and  here  are  supposed  to  be  the  remains  of  an  old  Ro 
man  encampment,  the  outside  wall  and  cement  yet  to  be  seen. 
From  this  place  we  adjourned  to  the  "  Royal  Oak"  ordinary. 

June  7.  With  Mr.  Nelson  set  off  for  the  canal,  intending  to 
take  a  passage  to  Worsley  to  visit  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater's  coal 
mines.  After  some  delay  we  entered  the  passage  boat,  drawn  by 
a  horse  in  the  manner  of  the  Trek-schuits  in  Holland.  Arrived 
at  Worsley  in  two  hours,  passing  athwart  the  river  Irwell,  over 
which  the  canal  runs,  being  raised  on  arches  not  less  than  fifty  feet 
in  height  above  that  stream.  In  many  places  the  bottom  of  the 
canal  is  considerably  higher  than  the  level  of  the  neighboring 
grounds.  Sent  compliments  to  Mr.  Gilbert,  the  steward,  asking 
the  favor  of  seeing  the  duke's  under-ground  works,  which  was 
granted,  and  we  stepped  into  the  boat,  passing  into  an  arch 
way  partly  of  brick  and  partly  cut  through  the  stone,  of  about 
three  and  a  half  feet  high ;  we  received  at  entering  six  lighted 
candles.  This  arch-way,  called  a  funnel,  runs  into  the  body  of  the 
mountain  almost  in  a  direct  line  three  thousand  feet,  its  medium 
depth  beneath  the  surface  about  eighty  feet ;  we  were  half  an  hour 
passing  that  distance.  Here  begins  the  first  under-ground  road  to 
the  pits,  ascending  into  the  wagon  road,  so  called,  about  four  feet 
above  the  water,  being  a  highway  for  the  wagons,  containing 
about  a  ton  weight  of  the  form  of  a  mill-hopper,  running  on  wheels, 
to  convey  the  coals  to  the  barges  or  boats.  Under  the  guidance  of 
a  miner,  with  each  a  lighted  candle  in  his  hand,  we  proceeded 
through  an  arched-way  about  five  feet  high,  walking  with  our 
bodies  at  an  angle  of  less  than  sixty  degrees,  through  a  road  of 
three  feet  in  width,  a  length  of  eight  hundred  yards,  arrived  at  the 
coal  mine,  which  appearing  about  five  feet  through  the  roof,  was 
supported  by  many  posts,  the  area  being  about  twenty  feet  square 
and  height  scarce  four.  From  this  dismal  abode,  which  my  com 
panion,  whose  name  was  Chandler,  would  fain  have  dissuaded  me 
from  proceeding  to  visit,  after  remaining  a  few  minutes,  I  hastened 
back  to  our  boat.  One  may  go  six  miles  by  water  in  various 
directions,  the  wagon  ways  to  the  pits  lying  below  the  level  of  the 
water ;  it  is  said  the  distance  from  the  mouth  is  six  miles  in  the 


136  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

funnel.  A  hundred  men  are  daily  employed,  and  each  turns  out 
a  ton  a  day;  the  miners'  wages  two  shillings,  and  the  laborers' 
about  one  shilling.  Price  of  coal  at  the  pit  twopence  per  hundred 
weight ;  at  the  key  threepence  halfpenny,  and  at  the  door  four- 
pence  halfpenny.  The  boat  having  left,  we  returned  to  town  on 
foot,  five  miles  through  fields  and  vacant  lands. 

The  centre  of  this  town  of  Manchester  consists  principally  of 
old  buildings ;  its  streets  narrow,  irregularly  built,  with  many  capi 
tal  houses  interspersed.  By  act  of  parliament  old  buildings  are 
taken  down  to  enlarge  the  streets.  It  has  a  few  good  ones;  King- 
street  is  the  best  built,  is  long  and  sufficiently  wide ;  most  of  its 
houses  noble.  Great  additions  of  buildings  and  streets  are  daily 
making,  and  of  a  larger  size  than  at  Birmingham,  nor  have  all  the 
new  ones  so  dusky  a  face  as  in  that  town,  and  in  that  respect  are 
fairer  and  better;  for  extent  of  ground  whereon  it  stands,  nor  num 
ber  of  inhabitants,  does  the  latter  exceed  or  in  my  opinion  come  up 
to  it.  The  disposition  and  manners  of  this  people,  as  given  by 
themselves,  are  inhospitable  and  boorish.  I  have  seen  nothing  to 
contradict  this  assertion,  though  my  slender  acquaintance  will  not 
justify  me  in  giving  that  character.  In  all  the  manufacturing 
towns  there  is  a  jealousy  and  suspicion  of  strangers ;  an  acquaint 
ance  with  one  manufacturer  effectually  debars  one  from  connection 
with  a  second  in  the  same  business.  It  is  with  difficulty  one  is  ad 
mitted  to  see  their  works,  and  in  many  cases  it  is  impracticable, 
express  prohibitions  being  given  by  the  masters.  The  dissenters 
are  some  of  the  most  wealthy  merchants  and  manufacturers  here, 
but  mortally  abhorred  by  the  Jacobites.  The  dress  of  the  people 
here  savors  not  much  of  the  London  mode  in  general ;  the  people 
are  remarkable  for  coarseness  of  feature,  and  the  language  is  unin 
telligible. 

Manchester,  June  8.  Attended  public  worship  at  a  dissenters' 
meeting  house,  both  services.  Walked  to  the  end  of  Danesgate, 
and  drank  tea  at  our  companion  Nelson's  lodgings  ;  and  were 
amused  by  the  free  and  unrestrained  chat  of  his  landlady,  named 
Hudson,  a  quaker  in  religion,  and  Jacobite  in  political  principle. 
The  number  of  the  latter  description  since  the  English  prince 
mounted  the  throne  is  somewhat  lessened  here,  as  I  am  told  by  our 
landlady,  who  is  in  the  abdicated  family's  interest,  which  is  here 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  137 

openly  professed ;  all  of  that  party  putting  up  large  oak  boughs 
over  their  doors  on  the  29th  May  to  express  joy  at  the  glorious 
event  of  the  restoration  of  the  Stuart  family  to  the  English  throne ; 
many  such  I  saw.  The  ladies,  who,  if  they  take  a  part,  are  ever 
violent,  scruple  not  openly  and  without  restraint  to  drink  Prince 
Charles's  health,  and  express  their  wishes  for  his  restoration  to  his 
paternal  kingdoms.  I  saw  the  house  wherein  the  prince,  as  he  is 
called,  dwelt  whilst  here,  (at  the  time  of  his  invasion  ;)  the 
gentleman  and  his  family  still  remain  in  it,  and  steady  to  their  prin 
ciples,  which,  however,  did  not  hurry  them  into  lengths  that  ex 
posed  them  to  the  resentment  of  government.  His  name  is  Dixon, 
and  his  house  is  in  Market-street  lane,  on  the  left  as  one  goes 
from  the  market;  and  our  host,  a  Mr.  Bower,  with  whom  we  pass 
ed  a  very  social  evening  at  his  house  in  Leigh-street,  told  us  Lord 
John  Murray  and  his  secretary  lodged  at  his  house  at  that  time. 
One  of  those  executed  here  in  the  last  rebellion  was  a  son  of  a 
woman  who  had  borne  twenty-nine  children. 

June  9.  Passed  the  day  in  rambling  about  town  with  our 
new-found  companion,  Nelson. 

June  11.  Having  agreed  to  join  Mr.  Nelson  in  a  post-chaise 
to  York,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  we  propose  to  cease  from 
our  labors,  and  hoping  the  rewards  of  a  cheap  plentiful  country  to 
reside  in  for  some  time,  for  this  purpose  we  went  to  engage  a  chaise 
at  the  old  "  White  Swan  Inn,"  where  we  saw  three  young  country 
men,  a  Capt.  Gore,  Mr.  Joy  and  son,  at  the  end  of  their  ramble 
northward  from  London,  designing  to  return  to  Bristol  by  way  of 
Wolverhampton.  My  fellow  traveller  on  this  discovery,  tired  of 
his  expensive  ramble,  immediately  took  fire  and  determined  to 
abandon  me,  and  accompany  them  on  their  intended  route  ;  loth  to 
part  in  this  quarter  and  in  the  situation  I  was  then  in,  for  certain 
prudential  reasons,  agreed  to  his  fantastic  plan,  though  entirely 
contrary  to  my  wish  and  views ;  and  having  disengaged  ourselves 
from  Mr.  Nelson,  to  his  mortification,  engaged  a  post-chaise  to 
Macclesfield.  On  the  12th  June  we  proceeded  on  through  a  road 
of  seven  miles  paved  with  pebbles  to  Stockport,  a  considerable 
town,  having  some  reputable  buildings  ;  its  streets  are  narrow  and 
paved.  From  hence  to  Macclesfield  lying  in  Cheshire  about  twelve 
miles,  being  our  first  stage  from  Manchester.  At  five  miles  from 

18 


138  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

this  is  the  seat  of  Sir  George  Warren,  surrounded  by  finely  im 
proved  lands  and  pleasure  grounds,  lying  on  my  left.  A  little 
beyond  on  the  right  is  the  seat  of  Charles  Leigh,  Esq.,  possessed 
of  four  thousand  a  year,  and  of  a  considerable  tract  adjoining  to 
Manchester,  which  he  has  laid  out  in  streets  to  be  let  on  building 
leases.  At  Macclesfield  we  alighted,  breakfasted,  etc.,  departed 
for  Leek,  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles ;  the  former  town  has  a  silk 
mill  or  mills,  and  a  manufactory  which  appears  not  to  have  much 
business.  The  town  in  general  is  ill  built,  the  houses,  as  in  most 
manufacturing  places,  of  most  credit  in  its  environs.  From  the 
George  inn  we  departed  not  greatly  pleased  with  the  host's  attend 
ance,  nor  I  with  my  companion's  behavior  here. 

Leek,  at  which  I  now  am,  has  a  manufactory  of  silk  and  rib 
bons,  and  one  for  hair-buttons;  the  former  chiefly  for  the  great 
dealers  at  Coventry,  though  very  largely  for  foreign  orders  and  the 
London  supply,  as  well  as  the  inland  towns.  From  hence  to 
Sandon,  called  in  this  country  language  Sand,  is  a  distance  of 
eighteen  miles,  which  we  were  four  hours  in  passing.  Here  we 
alighted  at "  the  Dog  and  Duck,"  supped  and  lodged ;  the  former 
as  quietly  served  up,  and  as  genteelly,  as  could  be  in  London  ;  the 
town  is  small,  houses  scattering,  and  of  an  indifferent  aspect. 

June  13.  Departed  without  breakfast  for  Stafford,  the  coun 
ty  town ;  the  roads  in  general  are  sandy,  but  on  our  approaching 
the  town,  the  lands  assumed  a  better  face.  The  main  street  through 
which  we  passed  is  paved,  the  houses  well  built,  full  shops,  and  an 
appearance  of  business  and  of  wealth.  On  our  right,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  a  mile,  stands  on  the  summit  of  an  insulated  hill,  cut,  as 
should  seem,  by  art  into  a  cone  about  one  third  down,  a  stone  edifice, 
like  a  lofty  tower,  which  is  the  only  remains  of  Stafford  Castle, 
making  an  agreeable  object  to  a  traveller.  From  hence  the  lands 
and  roads  are  greatly  altered  for  the  better ;  fine  pastures,  excel 
lent  live  hedge  fences,  and  rows  of  trees  in  great  abundance.  Our 
next  stage  was  a  distance  of  ten  miles,  at  a  place  called  Penkridge  ; 
here  again  we  took  another  driver,  carriage  and  horses,  and 
through  a  most  excellent  turnpike  road  and  a  delightfully  improved 
country,  arrived  at  the  old  "  Angel  Inn,"  Wolverhampton,  where 
we  dined,  and  having  despatched  a  messenger  for  my  old  friend 
Timmins,  he  soon  arrived ;  by  his  invitation  accompanied  him  and 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  139 

our  companion  to  see  the  great  manufactory  of  Taylor  and  Jones, 
(who  are  also  exporting  merchants,)  for  japanning  tin,  paper  snuff 
boxes,  iron  tools,  etc.  This  town  is  large,  has  a  capital  manufacto 
ry  in  the  lock  and  hinge  way,  and  most  other  branches  of  the  iron 
business,  and  is  supposed  to  contain  twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 
Like  all  the  old  towns  it  is  ill  built,  and  like  Birmingham  has 
a  dusky  look.  Once  for  all,  its  numbers  I  judge  are  overrated; 
every  town  and  borough  is  so.  After  repeated  invitations  to  re 
main  we  departed  before  six  o'clock  for  Stourbridge,  distant  ten 
miles,  to  which  we  arrived  at  half  past  seven,  being  driven  Jehu 
like  through  roads  as  level,  hard  and  pleasant  as  a  garden  gravel 
walk  5  the  country  yielding  a  pleasant  view  from  good  husbandry? 
fruitful  soil,  lofty  trees  and  live  hedges.  We  were  agreeably  dis 
appointed,  for  instead  of  a  pitiful,  mean  town,  as  its  avenues  seemed 
to  threaten,  we  found  a  well  built,  large,  lively  and  rich  town, 
having  a  noble,  wide  and  convenient  street  a  mile  long,  with  cross 
streets  well  paved.  It  is  famous  for  glass,  nails,  heavy  iron  work, 
as  anvils,  etc.,  and  some  cloth  manufactories.  After  rambling  for 
an  hour  over  the  town,  we  supped  and  retired  to  rest. 

Stourbridge,  June  14.  Set  off  at  eight  o'clock  and  arrived  at 
the  "  Crown"  inn,  Bromesgrove, twelve  miles,  at  ten  ;  a  respectable 
town,  but  it  contains  no  large  manufactories ;  the  only  one  of  any 
consideration  is  for  linen  cloth.  The  lands  about  here  in  an  excellent 
state  of  husbandry  and  fertile ;  farm-houses  and  gentlemen's  seats 
more  numerous  in  this  and  the  following  stage  than  on  any  road 
we  had  passed  in  this  route,  except  the  west  riding  of  Yorkshire, 
to  which  it  bears  a  comparison.  Were  set  dow?n  at  the  Bell  inn, 
Broad-street,  Worcester,  at  twelve  o'clock ;  a  very  handsome, 
well  built  city,  having  spacious,  airy  streets,  a  noble  cathedral  and 
elegant  modern  houses;  its  shops  large  and  well  filled,  the  town 
lively  and  full  of  business ;  its  inhabitants  have  the  character  of 
being  polite  and  genteel,  and  indeed  they  have  more  the  air  of  Lon 
doners  than  at  any  place  I  have  seen.  The  Severn  runs  on  one 
side  of  the  city,  by  which  conveyance  is  easy  to  Gloucester,  the 
distance  being  twenty-eight  miles,  performed  in  seven  hours  in 
small  vessels.  Here  is  a  manufacture  of  porcelain,  said  to  be  the 
best  made  in  England.  While  rambling  through  the  streets  we 
fell  by  accident  into  the  cathedral  green,  and  meeting  a  boy  with 


140  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

a  prayer  book  in  one  hand  and  the  church  key  in  the  other,  he 
accosted  us  with,"  Gentlemen,  are  ye  a  mind  to  go  into  the  church?" 
and  on  our  answering  in  the  affirmative,  the  doorkeeper  admitted 
us.  It  has  many  old  monuments,  (as  well  as  modern,)  particularly 
that  of  King  John,  whose  body  by  his  desire  was  buried  in  the  choir 
just  before  the  high  altar,  over  which  spot  is  a  flat  statue  of  him. 
Here  also  lies  in  a  little  chapel  the  body  of  Prince  Arthur,  eldest 
son  of  Henry  VII.,  and  likewise  an  Oswald,  a  bishop  of  this 
see  before  the  Norman  conquest ;  the  only  modern  I  thought  worthy 
to  remember,  is  the  worthy  Dr.  Hough,  about  forty  years  since  a 
bishop  of  this  see.  The  chapter  house,  also  used  as  a  library,  is  of 
an  oval  form,  and  its  walls  to  a  considerable  height  covered  with 
cases  faced  with  glass,  and  very  well  filled  with  books.  In  this 
city  is  a  magnificent  town  hall,  having  below  many  full  length 
portraits.  This  being  market  day  the  streets  were  so  thronged  that 
our  chaise  could  scarce  make  its  way  through  to  the  inn.  Having 
spent  four  hours  in  this  beautiful  and  pleasant  place,  we  departed 
for  Tewksbury,  a  considerable  town ;  here  the  apple  orchards 
began  to  appear  of  uncommon  height  and  bigness.  From  the 
western  quarter  of  Staffordshire  to  the  very  houses  of  Bristol, 
through  the  delightful  counties  of  Worcester  and  Gloucester,  the 
fields,  pastures  and  enclosures  have  an  uncommon  richness  and 
verdure ;  fruit  and  forest  trees  in  greater  abundance  and  larger 
girth  and  greater  height  than  are  to  be  seen  elsewhere  in  England. 
Tewksbury  has  no  capital  manufacture  except  for  white  cotton 
stockings,  for  which  it  is  noted.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  for  a 
parish  church  one  hundred  and  seven  yards  long,  and  more  than 
twenty-five  broad ;  its  roof  supported  by  round  shafted  pillars  seven 
yards  in  girth,  contains  several  old  monuments.  The  first  I  observed 
was  Richard  Nevil,  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick,  called  the  king 
maker,  raised  on  a  lofty  monument  scarce  as  big  as  the  life,  in  a 
kneeling  posture  with  uplifted  closed  hands;  in  a  chapel  are 
decumbent  his  daughter  and  her  husband  George,  Duke  of  Clarence; 
and  in  a  flat  grave  just  before  the  door  of  the  choir,  is  the  tomb  of 
Henry,  son  of  the  unfortunate  Henry  VI. 

June  15.  From  the  Sun  inn,  Tewksbury,  we  departad  before 
breakfast,  and  through  rough  and  dirty  roads  arrived  at  the  "  Bell" 
inn,  Gloucester,  at  nine  o'clock;  notwithstanding  the  fine  plenti- 


1777.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  141 

ful  harvests  of  corn,  cider,  and  pasturage,  for  which  this  county  is 
noted,  for  miles  around  the  city  the  houses  are  small,  dirty,  and  in 
ill  repair,  the  avenues  slovenly,  fences  and  walls  in  a  ruinous  state, 
the  barns  generally  of  wood,  all  tottering  to  their  fall ;  the  bridges 
the  meanest  and  in  the  worst  condition  anywhere  to  be  passed.  After 
breakfast  and  dressing,  we  all  attended  worship  in  the  cathedral, 
being  decently  and  respectfully  provided  with  seats  in  the  choir  ; 
the  service  was  chanted.  The  dean  and  sub-dean  performed  the 
communion  service.  From  church  I  repaired  to  our  inn,  leaving 
my  fellow  travellers  to  pursue  their  ramble  till  dinner  time.  Dirty 
narrow  streets,  and  mean,  ill  repaired  houses,  constitute  too  great  a 
part  of  this  city  to  render  it  an  agreeable  residence.  After  dinner, 
young  Joy  and  I  rambled  into  the  cathedral ;  the  cloisters  are  reck 
oned  the  finest  in  England  ;  after  viewing  them  we  retreated  into 
the  church,  and  meeting  one  of  the  vergers,  were  conducted  by 
him  to  the  old  monuments.  Thence  back  to  the  inn,  when  we 
took  coach  and  left  the  city,  part  of  our  company  being  already 
gone.  The  next  stage  was  at  Newport,  consisting  only  of  four 
inns  and  a  dissenting  meeting  house,  distant  from  our  last  stage 
fifteen  miles,  and  from  Bristol  eighteen  ;  the  roads  are  dirty  and 
rough,  the  slovenliness  of  the  farmers'  houses  and  the  richness  of 
soil,  were  as  before  ;  here  we  lodged. 

Neuiport,  June  16.  After  breakfast  departed  alone,  our  fellow 
travellers  being  already  gone,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  alighted  at 
the  "  White  Lion"  inn,  Broad-street,  Bristol ;  dined  and  afterwards 
visited  RadclifTe  church  :  drank  tea  at  Mr.  Waldo's. 

Bristol,  June  17.  Breakfasted  at  Mr.  Waldo's;  walked  to 
Hot  Wells,  and  Mr.  Gouldney's  grotto  ;  after  dinner  accompanied 
my  fellow  travellers  to  Taylor's  glass  works;  in  our  way  through 
"  Long-row,"  were  attacked  by  the  virulent  tongue  of  a  vixen, 
who  saluted  us  by  the  names  of  "  damned  American  rebels,"  etc. 
In  our  return  from  Hot  Wells,  we  passed  a  person  dressed  in  green, 
with  a  small  round  hat  flapped  before,  very  like  an  English  coun 
try  gentleman,  who  is  the  supposed  Count  Falkenstein,  under 
which  character  the  Emperor  of  Germany  travels  incog.  Remov 
ed  our  trunks  to  a  Mr.  Sladen's  in  Queen's  square. 


142  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [  1777. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Bristol,  June  18,  1777.  This  being  the  day  in  which  Mr. 
Chester,  the  county  member  elect,  is  to  make  his  triumphal  entry 
into  the  city,  it  was  ushered  in  by  ringing  of  bells  and  discharging 
of  cannon,  the  noise  of  which  early  disturbed  my  rest.  On  the 
towers  of  all  the  churches  were  displayed  colors  and  jacks  ;  en 
signs  and  pendants  on  most  of  the  vessels  at  the  quays.  On  Bran 
don  hill  were  placed  twenty-two  cannon,  discharging  several  rounds 
in  the  day,  answered  by  the  vessels.  After  dinner  I  strolled  through 
the  streets  that  were  lined  with  people,  reaching  from  the  extent 
of  the  city  on  the  farther  side  quite  through  and  up  to  the  rising 
grounds  on  the  Down,  beyond  Park-street,  the  windows  on  each 
side  filled  to  behold  the  great  man.  My  stand  was  on  the  open 
space  on  the  hither  side  of  the  bridge  over  the  Frome;  the  pro 
cession  began  at  seven  o'clock ;  footmen  two  and  two,  then  follow 
ed  others  on  horseback,  two  and  two  in  the  centre.  Mr.  Chester  pre 
ceded,  and  was  followed  by  more  than  a  thousand  persons,  of  whom 
one  hundred  and  fifty  were  mounted  and  clad  in  new  blue  coats 
and  breeches,  with  buff  waistcoats,  the  Duke  of  Beaufort's  hunting 
garb.  These  were  headed  by  the  champion  dressed  in  blue  silk, 
armed  cap-a-pie,  and  at  all  points,  bearing  in  his  hand  a  mace  that 
he  waved  every  hundred  steps ;  stopping  his  horse  at  the  same 
time,  on  which  arose  three  loud  huzzas.  The  rear  was  brought 
up  by  nearly  a  hundred  carriages ;  the  day  was  devoted  to  mirth 
and  festivity,  nor  was  the  following  night  without  its  share.  The 
Duke  of  Beaufort,  whose  man  Mr.  Chester  was,  privately  left  the 
procession  just  before  its  arrival  in  town,  and  took  a  stand  in  a 
friend's  house  with  his  duchess  to  see  the  parade  through  the 
town,  and  enjoy  the  triumph  over  his  rival  without  observation. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH,  DEVON. 

Bristol,  June  19,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR: 

After  a  long,  expensive,  and  not  very  pleasing  tour,  I  am  at 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  143 

length  set  down,  for  some  weeks'  abode  at  least,  in  this  city.  My 
experience,  dearly  enough  bought,  teaches  me  that  manufacturing 
towns  are  not  proper  places  of  residence  for  idle  people,  either  on 
account  of  pleasure  or  profit ; — the  expenses  of  living  being  as  high 
almost  as  at  St.  James's  in  every  such  town,  how  far  distant  soever 
from  the  capital.  The  spirit  of  bargaining  and  taking  advantage 
runs  through  every  line  of  life  there,  but  in  the  north  it  is  cruelly 
predominant.  I  know  not  but  I  may  ramble  before  cold  weather 
again  to  the  west,  for  Exeter  with  all  its  faults  is  paradise  itself  to 
Manchester  or  any  town  in  the  north  I  have  seen. 

Having  by  accident  met  Mr.  John  Boylston  in  the  American 
Coffee-house,  who  informs  me  he  is  going  off  to-morrow  for  Exeter, 
I  would  not  fail  to  embrace  so  fair  an  opportunity  to  let  you  hear 
from  me,  though  I  had  nothing  but  that  simple  article  to  acquaint 
you  with.  Nothing  will  yield  me  more  satisfaction  than  to  hear  of 
your  and  my  other  friends'  welfare  in  the  west.  I  had  the  pleasure 
to  see  Counsellor  White,  now  on  a  tour  through  North  Wales,  &c. ; 
be  pleased  to  make  my  compliments  to  his  family  and  my  acquaint 
ance  in  your  neighborhood.  God  bless  your  reverence,  and  suc 
ceed  your  pious  endeavors  to  reform  your  flock.  You  have  mine, 
and  I  hope  for  your  prayers,  and  remain, 

Your  assured  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  22.  Walked  to  the  cathedral,  entering  just  as  service 
was  about  to  be  begun.  Mr.  Haynes,  a  canon,  preached ;  a  likely 
figure,  but  a  dull  heavy  writer  and  speaker : — the  church  is  kept 
in  nice  order.  One  half  of  this  building  was  demolished  by  Crom 
well  when  he  bombarded  it,  and  forced  Prince  Rupert  to  retire, 
who  for  some  time  kept  him  out,  but  was  at  last  forced  to  abandon 
it.  From  hence  adjourned  to  the  mayor's  chapel,  in  which  I  saw 
several  monuments  erected  A.  D.  1268-9,  it  having  been  I  pre 
sume  the  chapel  of  a  knight  templar's  house.  Here  we  heard  the 
conclusion  of  an  excellent  sermon  by  the  chaplain,  Mr.  Ireland. 
In  the  afternoon,  attended  worship  at  St.  Stephen's.  Evening,  at 
Mr.  J.  Waldo's,  in  Brunswick  square. 

June  25.     Passed  the  afternoon  and  evening  at  Mr.  Barnes'  at 


144  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777 

quadrille  with  Mr.  Waldo  and  Mr.  Oxnard ;  also  met  S.  Porter 
there,  on  his  return  from  Wales. 

June  26.  In  the  evening  stopped  in  our  rambles  at  Lady  Hunt 
ingdon's  chapel,  where  heard  a  sensible  preacher  on  the  doctrine 
of  love. 

June  27.  Walked  out  with  Mr.  Sewall  and  Mr.  Oxnard  through 
Stapleton  to  the  late  Lord  Bottetourt's  seat  and  pleasure  grounds, 
now  the  duchess  dowager  of  Beaufort's ;  the  house  is  situated  on 
the  brow  of  a  hill,  standing  on  a  lofty  foundation  of  stone  ;  its  front, 
as  approached  from  Stapleton,  has  each  angle  covered  with  six 
square  towers,  and  between  an  open  piazza  below ;  the  whole 
house  crowned  with  battlements.  It  is  built  of  white  stone,  and 
possesses  an  extensive  view  of  the  pleasure  grounds,  and  a  finely 
improved  country  all  before  it.  After  tea  took  a  second  ramble  to 
Bedminster  church-yard. 

June  29.  Attended  worship  at  the  mayor's  chapel,  met  Mr. 
Boutineau,  with  whom  we  took  a  few  rounds  in  the  college  green 
amidst  genteel  company,  and  received  invitations  to  tea.  In  the 
afternoon,  meeting  Mr.  Barnes  and  F.  Waldo,  we  joined  them  going 
to  St.  Nicholas'  church;  a  Dr.  Buck  preached  an  excellent  sermon, 
and  delivered  it  with  great  propriety  and  fervency. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  LONDON. 

Queen's  Square,  Bristol,  July  8,  1777. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

After  a  long  and  expensive  ramble  to  no  good  purpose,  I  am 
at  length  in  this  city,  proposing  to  make  it  my  abode  for  a  month 
or  longer; — to  what  place  I  shall  retreat  from  hence  I  am  unde 
termined,  though  somewhere  to  the  west,  as  that  is  a  quarter  of 
great  plenty  and  of  the  least  expense.  The  report  of  the  cheap 
ness  of  living  in  Yorkshire  is  a  mere  fable,  especially  in  or  near  the 
neighborhood  of  the  manufacturing  towns,  in  the  west  riding,  or 
even  in  Lancashire  as  far  as  Manchester.,  which  last  place  nothing 
but  interest  or  superior  motives  could  confine  me  to. 

The  distance  I  am  from  London,  (and  probably  shall  be  for 
many  months,)  will  deprive  me  of  hearing  or  reading  the  current 
news,  but  few  papers  falling  into  my  hands ;  and  coffee-houses,  the 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  145 

resort  of  newsmongers  and  political  dabblers,  I  rarely  enter ;  so  if 
you  will  now  and  then  employ  a  few  of  your  leisure  moments  to 
let  me  hear  from  you,  I  shall  esteem  it  a  favor. 

I  am,  dear  sir.  very  truly  yours, 

S.    CURWEN. 

July  9.  Walked  five  miles  out  to  see  Dundry  tower,  the  steeple 
so  called  of  a  church  situated  on  a  lofty  ridge  commanding  an  ex 
tensive  prospect  over  the  Severn  into  Wales,  far  into  the  St. 
George's  Channel,  into  Somerset,  Gloucestershire,  and  far  beyond. 
Strolling  along  the  quay,  met  a  Swansea  coaster,  and  partly  agreed 
to  make  a  tour  through  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  Wales. 

July  11.  Went  to  the  theatre  ;  saw  the  West  Indian  and  the 
Misers,  the  former  entertaining ;  Major  O'Flaherty  well  taken  off 
by  Mr.  Moody,  the  best  imitation  of  an  Irishman  I  ever  saw  ;  -the 
latter  an  unnatural  plot,  and  but  illy  performed  to  a  very  full 
house. 

July  17.  Set  off  on  horseback  for  Bath ;  fine  roads,  sun  ex 
cessively  hot  and  scorching,  almost  choked  by  the  dust  which  arose 
in  clouds  by  the  carriages  and  horses  we  overtook  in  great  num 
bers.  Alighted  at  the  Shakspeare  inn,  High-street ;  visited  the 
public  places  of  resort ;  rambled  about  the  city,  dined,  and  at  four 
o'clock  departed  by  the  way  of  Keynsham  for  Bristol. 

July  18.  Drank  tea  with  Mr.  Francis  Waldo  at  his  lodgings ; 
afterwards  adjourned  to  the  theatre,  where  I  was  agreeably  enter 
tained. 

July  23.  This  day  news  arrived  of  the  capture  of  the  Fox, 
man-of-war,  of  twenty-eight  guns,  by  some  American  privateers. 
Unless  more  spirited  measures  take  place,  or  others  are  employed 
to  plan  or  execute,  I  know  not  whether  this  island  itself  will  not 
be  surrounded  by  ships  from  the  western  continent  and  their  allies. 
Two  ships,  just  sailed  from  Bristol,  were  taken  in  St.  George's 
channel ;  and  several  to  and  from  Ireland,  etc.,  within  a  month. 
The  nation  is  in  a  lethargy,  and  for  aught  that  appears  is  like  to 
continue  so  ;  treachery,  venality,  or  inability,  will,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  destroy  this  devoted  people. 

July  24.  News  via  Liverpool ;  Gen.  Howe  burnt  Brunswick 
about  20th  June,  broke  up  his  camp,  going  to  abandon  the  Jerseys, 

19 


146  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777, 

to  strengthen  his  lines  at  Kingsbridge,  apprehending  an  attack 
there;  and  with  the  remainder  of  his  forces  and  the  ships  to  go  up 
the  North  river  on  a  secret  expedition.  The  Boston  fleet  of  eigh 
teen  privateers  sailed  with  orders  to  keep  together  for  twenty-five 
days,  and  afterwards  each  to  repair  to  their  several  destinations.  The 
Newfoundland  fishery  disturbed,  the  ships  on  Grand  Bank  scattered  ; 
some  sunk,  the  whole  almost  dispersed  and  ruined.  London  and 
the  trading  parts,  even  those  attached  to  the  government,  I  am  told, 
begin  to  grow  very  uneasy  and  talk  loud.  If  it  should  continue, 
a  change  in  administration  must  succeed.  Alas  !  to  what  a  low 
ebb  is  this  nation  fallen,  that  lately  gave  law  to  the  potent  states 
of  France  and  Spain,  in  a  contest  confessedly  unequal  on  the  side 
of  its  own  subjects;  but  such  is  the  state  of  human  affairs.  Go 
liath  was  humbled  and  slain  by  little  David,  and  those  provinces 
that  lately  sued  to  Great  Britain  for  protection  and  aid,  now  boldly 
defy  and  enter  the  lists  against  that  very  power. 

July  26.  Took  passage  to  Swansea  with  Capt.  Hawkins,  and 
at  eleven  o'clock,  with  two  pilot  boats  ahead,  cast  off  from  the 
quay.  In  four  hours  discharged  our  pilot  boat  in  King  Road,  five 
miles  from  Bristol;  we  soon  grounded,  and  there  remained  all 
night.  The  return  of  the  ebb  served  instead  of  a  favorable  wind, 
to  carry  us  to  our  port  of  destination.  Indeed,  it  was,  as  the 
sailors  say,  right  in  our  teeth  ;  the  strength  however  of  the  current 
is  such  as  to  overpower  a  light  gale,  in  which  case  vessels  coming 
in  or  going  out  drop  anchor  during  the  ebb  or  flood,  when  unfa 
vorable.  This  night  proved  dark  and  misty ;  just  after  midnight 
we  dropped  anchor;  daylight  discovered  the  master's  judgment  in 
selecting  his  ground  to  anchor  on.  We  arrived  without  harm  to  a 
stony  beach  called  the  ferry  place,  below  the  quay  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile. 

Swansea,  July  29.  Attended  a  court-baron,  instituted  for  de 
termining  pecuniary  cases  under  forty  shillings,  and  is  equivalent  to 
our  justice's  court  in  New  England;  it  is,  I  presume,  appendant  to 
every  manor,  the  lords  of  which  have  the  nominating,  if  not  the 
appointing  of  the  officers  to  this  trust.  The  manor  in  which  this  town 
lies  is  called  Gower,  and  belongs  to  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  who 
chooses  its  chief  magistrate,  called  Portreve  ;  the  present  is  Mr. 
Gabriel  Powel,  justice  also  in  the  former  court,  and  whom  I  saw  on. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  147 

the  bench.  This  town  is  the  first  in  Glamorganshire  for  commerce 
and  manufactures,  twelve  hundred  vessels  being  yearly  employed ; 
its  staples  are  coals,  copper-plates,  and  white  iron.  The  ore  for 
the  former,  and  blocks  for  the  latter,  are  brought  hither  in  their 
own  vessels  from  Cornwall,  and  when  manufactured,  transported 
to  Bristol  chiefly.  The  town  consists  of  twenty-five  hundred  in 
habitants,  who  occupy  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  few 
elegant  or  large  ;  a  market-house,  erected  at  Cromwell's  expense, 
the  inhabitants  being  in  his  interest.  Here  are  several  Episcopal 
and  Dissenting  churches,  a  synagogue  and  Quaker  meeting-house. 
Service  is  said  and  sermons  preached  in  the  Welsh  tongue  once  in 
three  weeks.  A  custom  prevails  here  of  raising  the  earth  on  the 
summit  of  the  grave  in  the  form  and  size  of  the  coffin  beneath,  and 
sticking  in  herbs  and  flowers,  and  during  the  season  of  roses,  of 
spreading  the  leaves  thereon.  The  country  inhabitants  almost  uni 
versally  use  the  Welsh  as  their  mother  tongue,  scarcely  understand 
ing  a  word  of  the  English,  which  they  call  Sasnic,  meaning  Saxon, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  true  British,  which  was  on  the  invasion 
narrowed  to  the  small  districts  of  Wales  and  Cornwall ;  English  in 
this  principality  is  taught  as  the  dead  languages  by  the  grammar. 
In  a  place  called  Gower  the  inhabitants  speak  no  Welsh,  but  be 
yond  they  talk  in  no  other  tongue ;  in  the  midland  counties  scarce 
any  thing  but  Welsh  is  spoken  or  known.  Pembrokeshire  was 
settled  some  ages  since  by  Yorkshire  and  west  country  folks,  whose 
descendants  retain  their  native  tongue,  and  are  ignorant  of  the 
country  speech.  In  general  the  inhabitants  affect  to  speak  of  Eng 
land  as  a  foreign  country,  and  as  we  on  the  west  of  the  Atlantic, 
saying  from  England,  to  England,  etc.  The  Welsh  appear  a 
hardy  race,  short,  clumsy,  and  strongly  built.  The  extensive  white 
iron  or  tin  plate  works,  and  copper  also,  which  abound,  I  fancy  is 
prejudicial  to  the  products  of  the  earth ;  and  the  appearance  of  the 
land  justifies  the  opinion.  I  am  told  the  land  is  good,  but  I  confess 
it  has  a  dreary  look ;  the  lofty  hills  are,  however,  enlivened,  though 
bare  of  trees,  (their  natural  vesture,)  by  the  great  number  of  small 
huts,  so  prettily  and  agreeably  scattered  over  the  sides  of  the  hills, 
being  painted  white,  with  the  fences  or  stone  walls  encompassing 
them,  or  forming  the  courts  or  yards. 

July  30.     A  stranger  sent  in  his  name,  Calvert,  desiring  an  in- 


148  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

troduction  to  me;  he  had  married  a  niece  of  the  late  Mr.  Gwynn, 
of  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  who  was  one  of  the  co-heiresses, 
and  he  wished  to  inquire  about  his  late  uncle's  affairs ;  but  I  could 
give  only  an  imperfect  account ;  when  I  last  saw  his  uncle  he  had 
a  wife  and  effects,  supposed  about  two  thousand  pounds.  I  took 
breakfast  with  Mr.  Calvert,  and  one  of  the  company  was  the  Dr. 
Collins  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  Barnes ;  but  he  not 
choosing  to  make  himself  known,  we  took  no  notice  of  each  other, 
though  we  were  both  apprised  of  our  meeting  together,  which  I 
thought  on  his  part  an  impropriety.  My  companion's  capricious 
resolution  to  return  back,  and  the  ill  reception  of  my  letter,  were 
considerations  that  prevailed  with  me  to  accompany  him,  and  we 
immediately  set  about  preparing  for  a  departure  ;  and  thus  was  my 
design  of  remaining  some  months  in  this  principality  frustrated  by 
an  injudicious  connection  which  might  have  been  foreseen  and 
avoided.  It  is  with  no  little  reluctance  I  abandon  my  only  inten 
tion  of  coming  to  these  parts,  which  was  to  possess  myself  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  peculiar  manners,  customs,  and  language  of  these 
genuine  descendants  of  the  old  Celts,  that  had  long  been  the  object 
of  my  wishes,  and  I  greatly  regret  my  facility  in  giving  it  up. 
But  an  unseasonable,  ill-placed  compliance,  or  perhaps  want  of 
proper  resolution  to  undertake  a  solitary  residence  in  a  district  of 
an  unknown  people,  of  a  strange  language,  might  have  co-operated 
to  produce  my  determination.  In  passing  the  road  I  reckoned  one 
hundred  and  thirty  chimneys  in  the  great  copper  works  lying  on 
the  banks  of  the  Swansea,  a  river  just  above  the  town.  Dined  and 
took  leave,  and  bent  my  course  to  the  ferry  ;  was  soon  wafted  over 
the  river  Tawy  in  a  boat  guided  by  a  rope,  the  rapidity  of  the 
tide  rendering  such  an  expedient  necessary  j  having  landed,  we 
jumped  into  a  carriage  standing  on  the  shore  ready  to  receive  us. 

The  next  town  is  Neath,  which  consists  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  houses,  and  is  situated  on  the  Bristol  Channel,  or  about 
the  embouchure  of  the  Severn ;  it  is  a  place  of  some  trade  in  the 
same  way  as  the  former,  though  riot  to  so  great  an  extent. 

On  the  farther  side  of  the  river  are  the  remains  of  a  magnificent 
monastery,  but  under  what  denomination  its  former  occupants  were, 
I  did  not  learn,  having  only  a  passing  view.  Just  beyond  the 
town  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  are  the  seat  and  grounds  of  Sir 


1777.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  149 

Herbert  Mackworth,  under  excellent  improvement.  Standing  in 
the  court  of  the  inn,  I  heard  one  tell  another  that  the  lad  then 
passing  by,  was  the  male  descendant  of  him  whose  name  was 
Pendrell,  by  whom  King  Charles  II.  was  concealed  on  the  oak  at 
Boscobel,  (now  standing,)  after  Cromwell's  defeat  of  the  Scotch 
army  at  Worcester. 

Neath,  July  31.  Left  the  inn  at  eight  o'clock,  and  alighted  at 
the  Bear  inn,  Cowbridge,  twelve  miles ;  a  long,  straggling  town, 
of  better  built  houses,  and  to  appearance  larger  than  Neath,  though 
of  less  trade.  Changed  horses  and  started  for  Cardiff,  where  we 
alighted  in  two  hours,  distance  twelve  miles.  It  is  a  small  but 
neat  and  clean  town,  the  shire  town  of  the  county  of  Glamorgan ; 
streets  well  paved  ;  has  one  Episcopal  church,  houses  modern,  but 
none  lofty  or  much  decorated.  The  inhabitants  here  and  farther 
on  towards  Monmouth,  begin  to  anglicize  and  lose  the  Welsh  lan 
guage  and  manners,  few  or  none  speaking  it  in  town,  though  the 
mountaineers  all  over  the  principality  make  it  their  mother  tongue, 
and  politically,  and  I  think  prudently,  continue  it.  The  villages 
and  towns  that  have  the  least  connection  with  trade,  retain  their 
original  tongue  in  greater  use.  North  Wales,  more  particularly 
than  South,  has  less  mixture  of  foreigners.  After  an  hour's  rest, 
we  set  off  in  a  post-chaise  for  the  mountain  country,  to  obtain  a 
sight  of  a  singular  bridge  over  the  river  Taaffe,  consisting  of  only 
one  arch,  spreading  one  hundred  and  forty-two  feet,  in  height  thir 
ty-four  above  the  water.  This  surprising  undertaking  was  planned, 
and  after  two  disappointments,  executed  by  a  mason  named  Tho 
mas  Edwards,  still  living  : — it  is  said  to  be  the  greatest  work  of  the 
kind  in  the  world,  exceeding  the  Rialto  at  Venice.  Visitors  say 
it  would  do  honor  to  Roman  magnificence  in  the  most  flourishing 
times  of  the  empire.  Asking  a  question  of  a  passenger,  he  replied, 
"  Dim,  Saesneg"  which  was  as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  "  /  do  not 
understand  English" 

Cardiff,  August  1.  After  breakfast  walked  through  the  town 
to  the  castle,  remarkable  for  its  being  the  prison  of  the  unfortunate 
Robert,  eldest  son  of  the  first  William,  and  Duke  of  Normandy, 
who  was  not  only  deprived  of  his  right  to  that  dukedom,  and  the 
kingdom  of  England,  the  government  of  which  last  was  his  by 
right  of  primogeniture  ;  but  being  made  a  prisoner  by  his  younger 


150  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

brother  Henry,  he  languished  here  twenty-six  years,  till  death 
kindly  released  him,  at  once,  from  captivity  and  suffering.  This 
castle  is  almost  entire,  and  seems  less  ruined  than  any  of  the  an 
cient  ones  not  in  possession  of  the  crown.  The  dungeon  where 
the  prince  was  kept  is  shown  ;  it  lies  under  the  outward  tower,  the 
descent  by  six  steps,  secured  by  two  doors,  one  within  another  ; 
the  apartment  about  eighteen  feet  high  and  the  same  in  diameter ; 
of  an  octagon  form,  having  an  arched  roof,  admitting  no  light  but 
through  a  wicket  just  under  the  covering,  jutting  out  from  the  body 
of  the  tower.  The  extent  of  the  castle  within  the  walls  is  about 
twelve  acres. 

From  hence  repaired  to  the  inn,  and  took  carriage  for  Newport. 
After  my  departure  learned  that  a  daughter  of  the  late  Parson 
Pigot  of  Marblehead,  was  an  inhabitant  of  this  place.  Arrived  at 
Newport  at  twelve,  and  remained  an  hour,  rambling  through  the 
town,  which,  like  Cowbridge,  is  long  and  straggling,  and  the 
houses  of  a  mean  appearance.  On  the  bank  of  the  river  Uske, 
near  the  foot  of  the  bridge  on  the  town  side,  are  the  remains  of  an 
old  castle  in  ruins,  reduced  by  Cromwell  to  its  present  state,  as,  I 
am  told,  were  all  the  castles  in  this  country,  where  they  abounded, 
scarce  a  town  being  without  one  ;  passed  by  several  in  sight  of 
the  road,  and  all  in  a  like  decaying  condition.  At  the  inn  we 
dined,  and  loitered  till  five  o'clock,  waiting  for  the  flow  of  the  tide, 
and  then  with  a  fair  but  faint  breeze,  entered  the  boat  and  loosed 
from  the  Welsh  shore.  In  forty  minutes  arrived  at  the  Gloucester 
side,  and  waited  no  longer  than  while  the  horses  were  putting  to  ; 
and  taking  our  seats,  were  conveyed  across  a  pleasant,  extensive 
country,  filled  with  herds  of  black  cattle  and  large  flocks  of  sheep, 
bordered  by  a  circular  range  of  finely  improved  hills.  In  an  hour 
arrived  at  the  city  end  of  Durdham  Down,  and^soon  alighted  at  our 
late  lodgings  in  Queen's  square,  having  finished  a  tour  of  two  hun 
dred  miles  in  seven  days.  From  henceforth  determined  to  consult 
the  genius,  turn,  and  temper  of  my  future  companions ;  my  late 
fellow  traveller's  want  of  curiosity,  etc.  etc.,  renders  him  a  very 
unfit  companion,  and  frustrates  every  purpose  of  rambling. 

Bristol,  August  3.     Attended  worship  at  St.  Stephen's ;  Dean 
Tucker  preached.     Returned  home  via  Hot  Wells. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  151 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH,  DEVON. 

Bristol,  August  4,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  dark  aspect  of  affairs  in  America  on  the  side  of  govern 
ment,  renders  it  likely  that  England  or  some  foreign  country  will, 
for  many  months  to  come,  be  the  residence  of  the  wretched  Amer 
ican  fugitives.  Our  head-quarter  folks  have,  I  learn,  lowered 
their  topsails,  and  talk  in  a  less  positive  strain ;  fear  and  appre 
hensions  seem  to  have  succeeded  assurance. 

Of  late  I  made  a  short  ramble  into  Wales,  and  over  many  emi 
nences,  to  which  the  hills  in  Devon  are  not  to  be  compared ;  the 
middling  and  poor  inhabitants  are  not  unlike  our  Indians,  though 
inferior  in  size  ;  their  manners  as  coarse  and  language  as  uncouth, 
differing  from  the  English  as  much  as  their  customs,  many  of  which 
are  peculiar.  The  outside  of  all  their  houses  and  walls  is  kept 
white-washed,  at  a  distance  giving  them  a  lively  and  pleasant 
look ;  the  inside  is  filthy  enough.  The  women,  like  our  Indian 
squaws,  carry  their  young  slung  round  them,  some  before  and  some 
behind  their  backs.  Cardiff,  the  chief  town  of  the  county,  is  near 
the  bank  of  the  river  Taaffe,  and  in  a  pleasant  vale  of  fine  improve 
ments,  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  cultivated  to  their  summits. 
Within  two  miles,  and  in  sight,  is  the  town  of  Llandaff,  having  a 
cathedral  of  a  respectable  appearance : — the  churches  in  this  coun 
try,  however,  make  but  an  indifferent  appearance,  being  of  dimin 
utive  size.  About  twelve  miles  from  this  toward  the  mountains, 
my  curiosity  carried  me  to  view  a  most  astonishing  piece  of  archi 
tecture  in  a  bridge,  called  bont-y-pridd,  consisting  of  one  arch,  in 
span  one  hundred  and  forty-two  feet,  and  rising  from  the  spring  of 
the  arch  thirty-four ;  planned  and  executed  by  a  common  mason, 
who  is  now  employed  at  a  similar  wrork  in  Radnor.  This  natural 
architect  is  also  to  execute  another  bridge  at  Swansea,  over  the 
river  Tawy,  the  middle  arch  of  it  to  rise  one  hundred  and  eight 
feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water  at  full  sea,  and  of  a  width  suf 
ficient  for  a  large  vessel  to  pass  through. 

Yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 


152  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

August  7.  Attended  worship  at  the  college  ;  Bishop  Newton, 
well  known  in  the  learned  world  by  his  writings,  confirmed  about 
nine  score  persons,  chiefly  females,  from  fourteen  to  thirty  years  of 
age. 

August  10.  Attended  worship  at  Mayor's  Chapel,  Baron  Ho- 
tham,  the  nisi  prius  judge,  present,  accompanied  by  the  mayor,  in 
their  formalities. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  DEVON. 

Bristol,  August  1 5,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

A  late  rumor  from  the  south  that  had  exhilarated  our  sinking 
spirits,  is  now  momently  abating  of  its  credibility,  though  it  was 
told  in  a  way  and  with  circumstances  that  induced  a  universal  be 
lief.  The  report  I  refer  to  you  must  undoubtedly  have  heard.  My 
faith  in  a  speedy  return  to  our  native  country  is,  as  it  ever  has 
been,  faint;  those,  on  the  contrary,  with  whom  it  is  my  fate  to 
bear  company,  have  cherished,  and  still  please  themselves  with  the 
fond,  delusive  hope  that  the  disturbances  on  the  western  continent 
will  subside  upon  the  least  success  of  the  British  arms,  and  hourly 
expect  to  hear  of  Gen.  Burgoyne's  arrival  at  Albany  ;  from  whence 
they  date  the  end  of  troubles  there.  But  supposing  that  to  take 
place,  I  foresee  a  great  deal  to  be  done  before  the  fierce  spirits 
of  the  people  in  America  will  settle  down  into  a  submission  to  a 
power  they  dread,  and  have  been  taught  to  detest.  Besides,  I 
cannot  help  thinking  France  will  interpose  and  prevent  a  future 
connection  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  ;  perhaps,  not 
thinking  it  prudent  to  declare  whilst  the  recovery  of  them  remains 
doubtful.  This  you  may  call  a  suggestion  of  fear,  and  it  may  be 
the  effect  of  a  sickly  disturbed  imagination ;  I  presume,  however, 
I  am  not  a  singular  instance. 

With  real  regard,  yours,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

August  19.  By  the  ship  Lady  Gage,  from  New-York,  July 
15th,  advices  that  General  Heister  is  returning  to  Europe  ; 
that  the  troops  are  withdrawn  from  the  Jerseys ;  that  Lord 
Howe  and  General  Howe  are  embarking,  destination  unknown; — 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  153 

discouraging  news  for  government,  and  is  a  convincing  proof  I 
should  think  that  an  insurrection  excited  by  an  enthusiastic  ardor 
for  liberty,  rightly  or  wrongly  understood,  and  in  such  distant  pro 
vinces,  is  not  to  be  easily  quelled.  A  contemptuous  idea  of  the 
weakness  of  the  colonies,  and  their  inability  to  withstand  the  pow 
er  of  this  opulent  state,  is  the  chief  if  not  the  only  source  of  the 
present  discouraging  condition  of  their  affairs  in  North  America. 

August  20.  Advices  from  New-York  are  that  General  Pres- 
cott  was  surprised  and  carried  off  at  midnight  from  a  detached 
house  a  little  beyond  his  line,  by  a  few  daring  sailors  who  landed 
on  the  island.  This  was  done  in  revenge  for  General  Prescott's 
setting  a  price  on  General  Arnold's  head,  dead  or  alive,  to  be 
brought  in.  General  Pigot  succeeds  the  former  in  command.  That 
Lord  Howre  and  General  Howe  were  soon  to  leave  New-York  with 
seventeen  thousand  troops,  destination  not  known,  supposed  north 
ward,  to  act  in  concert  with  General  St.  Leger,  who  is  coming 
down  through  the  Mohawk  country.  That  General  Burgoyne  has 
taken  Ticonderoga,  and  a  confirmation  of  the  capture  of  the  "  Fox" 
man-of-war  by  the  Hancock  and  Boston  privateers.  Tis  also 
stated  that  the  Massachusetts  people  begin  to  be  discontented,  and 
accuse  each  other  of  folly  in  engaging  in  an  opposition  that  seems 
to  promise  such  bitter  fruits.  Should  Great  Britain  be  able  to 
establish  a  line  of  communication  between  Canada  and  New-York, 
and  thereby  separate  the  northern  colonies  from  the  southern,  wo 
to  the  promoters  and  abettors  of  these  disputes,  and  good-by  to  Con 
gressional  authority.  The  Indians  will  naturally  fall  into  the  hea 
viest  scale,  especially  when  enforced  by  such  powerful  motives  as 
Great  Britain  can  offer.  Should  that  event  take  place,  God  pre 
serve  my  poor  country  from  the  desolating  judgments — from  a  mer 
ciless  savage  w7ar. 

Jiugust  26.  Intending  for  a  long  walk,  took  my  course  for 
Rownham  passage, proceeding  over  Leighdown  through  a  Mrs.  Gor 
don's  grounds,  late  Lady  Trenchard,  which  she  exchanged  for  a 
husband.  This  house  sheltered  King  Charles  II.  after  his  defeat 
and  flight  from  Worcester  ;  he  was  in  the  kitchen  when  his  pursu 
ers  entered,  in  the  character  of  a  scullion,  and  the  cook  maid  struck 
him  with  a  ladle,  calling  him  a  careless  dog;  and  ordering  him  to  wind 
up  the  jack,  which  he  obeyed,  getting  on  a  stool  for  the  purpose. 

20 


154  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777, 

The  house  is  a  large,  noble,  old-fashioned  structure.  In  the  court 
yard  is  a  piece  of  water  filled  with  carp.  Dined  at  King's  Weston, 
and  returned  to  lodgings  much  fatigued.  King's  Weston  is  an 
estate  belonging  to  Lord  Clifford,  family  name  Southwell.  At  the 
inn  I  heard  that  Lord  and  Lady  Clifford  had  that  morning  set  off 
for  France,  on  account  of  the  ill  health  of  the  latter,  leaving  a  dead 
child  in  the  house  to  be  buried  when  convenient. 

August  28.  The  annual  Gloucestershire  feast  this  day ;  the 
procession,  headed  by  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  walked  from  Concert 
Hall  to  the  inn. 

Sept.  2.  Had  a  passing  view  of  the  half  yearly  fair  held  in  St. 
James's  church-yard.  Saw  exposed  in  huts,  sheds,  etc.,  along  the 
street  called  Horse-fair,  cloths,  linen,  hose,  and  every  article  in  the 
grocery  and  bauble  way ; — besides  the  buyers,  there  were  numer 
ous  flocks  of  such  characters  as  compose  our  Cambridge  Common 
gentry  on  commencement  days,  and  for  the  like  purposes,  festivity 
and  fuddling, 

Sept.  3.  Evening  at  Judge  Sewall's,  who  introduced  me  to 
Dean  Tucker,  a  famous  political  divine  and  anti-colonist,  who 
judges  them  a  burden  to  Great  Britain,  and  presses  administration 
to  cast  them  off. 

Sept.  6.  Had  an  hour's  conversation  with  a  stranger  on 
'change ;  a  rare  event,  people  in  England  being  greatly  indisposed 
to  join  with  unknown  persons.  The  Bristolians  are,  however,  re 
markable  for  early  inquiries  into  the  character  of  all  strangers,  from 
commercial  motives,  and  soon  fasten  on  all  worth  making  a  pro 
perty  of,  if  practicable ;  all  others,  of  how  great  estimation  soever, 
are  in  general  neglected.  This  city  is  remarkable  for  sharp  deal 
ings  ;  there  runs  a  proverb,  "  one  Jew  is  equal  to  two  Genoese,  one 
Bristolian  to  two  Jews." 

Sept.  7.  At  the  college,  the  cathedral  so  called,  Dr.  Stone- 
house  preached ;  he  was  a  practitioner  of  medicine,  and  has  now 
turned  his  attention  to  spiritual  maladies.  His  discourse  serious 
and  sensible,  and  his  delivery  with  becoming  energy,  very  unlike 
the  insipid  coldness  prevalent  among  the  preferment-seeking, 
amusement-hunting,  "  macaroni  parsons,"  who,  to  the  shame  and 
dishonor  of  this  age  and  nation,  constitute  the  bulk  of  those  of  the 
established  clergy  that  possess  valuable  livings. 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  155 

In  the  afternoon,  walked  to  a  street  adjoining  King's  square  to 
attend  John  Wesley's  preachment;  he  being  seated  on  a  decent 
scaffold,  addressed  about  two  thousand  people,  consisting  of  the 
middle  and  lower  ranks.  The  preacher's  language  was  plain  and 
intelligible,  without  descending  to  vulgarisms. 

Sept.  14.  In  the  afternoon  I  attended  once  more  John  Wesley, 
having  the  heavens  for  his  canopy ;  he  began  with  an  extempore 
prayer,  followed  by  a  hymn  of  his  own  composing,  and  adapted  to 
the  subject  of  his  discourse.  He  wears  his  own  gray  hair,  or  a  wig 
so  very  like  that  my  eye  could  not  distinguish.  He  is  not  a  grace 
ful  speaker,  his  voice  being  weak  and  harsh ;  he  is  attended  by 
great  numbers  of  the  middling  and  lower  classes ;  is  said  to  have 
humanized  the  almost  savage  colliers  of  Kingswood,  who,  before 
his  time,  were  almost  as  fierce  and  unmanageable  as  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  wilderness.  He  wears  an  Oxford  master's  gown  ;  his  atten 
tion  seemingly  not  directed  to  manner  and  behavior,- — not  rude, 
but  negligent,  dress  cleanly,  not  neat.  He  is  always  visiting  the 
numerous  societies  of  his  own  forming  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales, 
and  Ireland ;  though  near  eighty  years  old,  he  reads  without  spec 
tacles  the  smallest  print.  He  rises  at  four,  preaches  every  day  at 
five,  and  once  besides  •  an  uncommon  instance  of  physical  ability. 
Sept.  26.  It  is  reported  that  General  Howe  is  gone  to  Boston, 
and  if  he  makes  a  successful  landing,  and  is  powerful  enough  to 
penetrate  into  the  country,  wo  betide  my  poor  native  land.  A  few 
days  will  undeceive  us  with  regard  to  the  object  of  Gen.  Howe's 
expedition. 

Sept.  29.  Mr.  Tirnmins  and  Judge  Sewall  visited  me.  Even 
ing  at  Mr.  Barnes's,  where  took  tea  with  thirteen  Americans.  The 
Temple  church  is  so  denominated  from  its  having  belonged  to  the 
knights  templars,  which  powerful  and  dangerous  body  of  men  was 
dissolved  about  A.  D.  1270. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Bristol,  October  6,  1777. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

It  is  my  intention  to  pass  a  fortnight  with  you,  and  could  wish, 
if  convenient,  to  meet  you  at  Exeter.  I  long  expected  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  you  here,  but  now  despair  of  it,  having  seen  Mr.  John 


156  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

Waldo,  who  informs  me  you  have  laid  aside  all  thoughts  of  a  jour 
ney  northward.  The  number  of  our  country  folks  here  is  eighteen, 
viz. :  Mr.  Boutineau  and  lady,  Mr.  Benjamin  Faneuil  and  lady, 
Judge  Sewall  and  lady,  Mr.  Barnes  and  lady  and  niece,  Mr.  Fen- 
ton  and  daughter  and  son,  Mr.  Fr.  Waldo,  Mr.  Timmins,  Colonel 
Hatch's  two  daughters  at  school,  and  myself. 

Gov.  Hutchinson,  in  a  letter  to  Judge  Sewall,  writes  that  the 
news  respecting  the  defeat  of  the  Americans  at  Saratoga  is  cor 
roborated  by  other  circumstances  concurring  to  establish  the  credi 
bility  of  the  lieutenant's  letter;  the  remainder  of  the  story  stands  on 
its  own  bottom,  or  in  other  words  is  doubtful ;  it  is,  however,  be 
lieved  by  some  that  two  hundred  of  the  royal  army  fell  in  the  at 
tack,  and  of  the  Americans  fifteen  hundred  are  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners,  with  artillery  and  stores.  He  also  writes  that  he 
has  it  from  high  authority,  that  Lord  George  Germaine  believes  Lord 
Howe  gone  to  Chesapeake  bay,  but  the  King  to  the  northward ; 
my  belief  is  that  this  is  a  stroke  of  court  policy,  to  keep  down 
discontent  in  the  minds  of  people  who  begin  to  grow  impatient. 

Your  real  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 


Oct.  4.  Before  the  "  Lexington  "  privateer  was  taken,  she  had 
burnt,  sunk,  and  destroyed  fifty-two  British  vessels,  on  the  coast  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  as  appears  by  her  log-book,  as  well  as 
by  papers  and  letters  found  on  board. 

Oct.  21.  Rose  at  six  o'clock,  and  went  a  coursing  with  two 
grayhounds  and  a  spaniel  for  hares.  Started  one,  and  left  her  in 
a  turnip-field ;  returned  about  two  o'clock,  not  greatly  fatigued, 
after  a  ramble  of  fifteen  miles  over  hedge  fences,  ditches,  etc. 

Oct.  28.  Had  a  sight  of  the  Pennsylvania  test,  which  mani 
fests  a  confidence  in  their  ability  to  support  their  lately  acquired 
authority.  It  is  a  triumph  to  a  few ;  misery  to  many,  I  fear. 

Oct.  31.  Departed  at  four  o'clock  from  Bristol,  in  the  diligence, 
with  two  other  passengers,  brothers ;  the  one  a  parson  of  cheerful 
humor,  and  of  the  learned  tribe;  the  other,  late  from  the  East 
Indies  with  a  few  thousand  pounds,  which  he  was  early  retiring  to 
enjoy  whilst  he  had  a  relish  for  the  pleasures  of  sense.  Breakfasted 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  157 

at  White  Heart  Cross,  dined  at  Bridgewater,  and  at  half  past  eight 
alighted  at  Exeter,  eighty-twp  miles  in  sixteen  hours. 

Exeter,  November  1.  Departed  on  horseback,  attended  by  a 
servant  with  my  portmanteau,  and  in  three  hours  alighted  at  my 
friend  Isaac  Smith's  lodgings  at  Sidmouth. 

Sidmouth,  Nov.  7.  Hode  to  Beer,  a  fishing  town,  containing 
perhaps  a  hundred  houses,  mud  walls  and  thatched  roofs;  the  in 
habitants  in  looks  and  dress  resembling  Marblehead  folks.  Stop 
ped  on  our  return  at  a  farm  called  Baldash  ;  met  here  Mr.  Cornish, 
dissenting  minister  of  Collylon,  who  is  a  cordial  advocate  for 
America  and  its  independence ;  he  is  for  retiring  to  woods  and 
caves  to  avoid  religious  persecution. 

Nov.  10.  Started  on  horseback  for  Axminster,  through  Kil- 
mington  ;  from  an  eminence  on  the  road  is  a  delightful  prospect  of 
the  vale  through  which  the  Axe  flowrs  in  a  serpentine  direction, 
under  fine  improvement,  bordered  by  hills  of  a  moderate  height; 
pastures  and  fields  to  the  summit,  from  which  saw  Seaton  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  supposed  to  have  been  a  Roman  port,  no  trace 
of  which  remains.  In  this  road  lies  a  stately  old  house,  called  Ashe, 
wherein  John  Churchill,  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough,  was  born ; 
a  village  of  no  account  called  Musbury,  and  at  the  extremity  Ax- 
minster,  where  we  dined  at  the  Green  Dragon,  and  were  introduced 
to  the  carpet  manufactory,  named  from  the  town;  invented  and 
still  carried  on  by  an  ingenious  and  obliging  person  of  the  dissent 
ing  profession.  Here  is  also  wrought,  besides  his  own,  of  a  pecu 
liar  construction,  Turkey  carpet,  so  very  like  in  figure,  color,  and 
thickness,  as  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  genuine  article. 
They  are  wrought  in  perpendicular  looms,  by  females,  whose  fingers 
move  with  a  velocity  beyond  the  power  of  the  eye  to  follow.  The 
shute,  consisting  of  as  many  colors  as  the  shades  of  the  figures,  is 
placed  aloft  on  a  bar,  through  rings  running  thereon,  each  ring 
passing  a  distinct  color  through.  There  was  making  a  beautiful 
one  of  thirty-six  feet  square,  (amounting  to  ninety-six  pounds,)  for 
the  Countess  of  Salisbury.  The  knowledge  of  this  manufacture  he 
obtained  thus :  an  old  ragged  fellow,  in  military  garb,  called  and 
said  he  had  wrought  all  over  Europe  in  the  Turkey  carpet  way ;  he 
was  engaged  immediately,  and  complete  success  has  resulted,  not 
only  in  this  kind  but  also  in  the  Wilton  and  Axminster. 


158  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1777. 

We  passed  a  dirty  road  in  the  dark  and  alighted  at  Thorncombe. 
The  late  vicar  was  father  of  Commodore  Samuel  Hood,  who  lately 
commanded  a  squadron  at  Boston.  Supped  and  passed  the  night 
here,  next  morning  left  early ;  at  eleven  o'clock  arrived  at  Lyme 
Regis,  lying  in  south  channel  in  an  exposed  situation  :  it  is  a  place 
of  little  trade,  supplying  the  neighborhood  with  coals  imported 
here  from  the  north.  It  is  also  a  watering  place,  being  accommo 
dated  with  a  few  bathing  machines,  a  terrace  facing  the  beach,  and 
near  adjoining  for  walking ;  a  long  room  for  tea  and  cards,  of  a 
southern  aspect,  and  a  neat  assembly  room.  About  twelve  hun 
dred  inhabitants,  (chiefly  dissenters,)  and  about  two  hundred  houses. 
Here  is  now  standing,  the  George  inn,  wherein  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth  first  slept  on  his  invasion.  For  the  security  of  vessels  coming 
in  here,  there  is  a  circular  pier  of  several  hundred  running  feet,  built 
by  the  ever  famous  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  Lord  Cobham,  and  from 
him  denominated  the  Cob.  The  next  stage,  Culliford,  at  Mr.  John 
Carsluck's  seat  of  Wishcombe,  where  we  were  kindly  entertained 
and  lodged.  This  place  is  called  from  its  situation ;  "  wish,"  in 
Devonshire  dialect  means  weary,  and  "  combe"  vale,— which  well 
describes  it. 

Nov.  12.  At  meridian  took  leave  and  departed  through  the 
country  to  Slade,  seat  of  Mr.  Lee,  one  of  Mr.  Smith's  parishioners ; 
called  and  notified  him  of  our  intention  to  dine,  and  passed  forward 
to  Brunscombe,  consisting  of  five  clusters  of  small  huts  of  mud 
walls  and  thatched  roofs.  This  parish,  formerly  an  estate  of  the 
Brunscombe  family,  was  given  to  a  monastery  at  Caen,  in  Nor 
mandy,  and  remained  appended  to  it  till  the  downfall  of  popery  in 
England.  Dined  and  took  tea  with  Mr.  Lee,  and  resuming  our 
saddles,  took  leave,  and  crossing  Salcombe  hills,  alighted  at  our 
lodgings,  after  a  circuitous  ramble  of  forty-seven  miles  in  four  days; 
the  roads  for  the  greater  part  more  dirty,  stony,  and  disagreeable 
than  are  generally  to  be  passed  in  our  own  country. 

Sidmouth,  Nov.  17.  Took  an  airing  over  Peak  hill, — evening 
in  a  large  company  at  Mr.  William  Carsluck's ;  Coddington  house 
his  seat ;  took  tea  and  a  generous  and  elegant  supper. 

Nov.  18.  Rode  out,  passing  a  farm  called  Thorn,  from  a  thorn 
bush  or  tree  standing  on  a  road  near  by,  said  to  be  more  than  three 
hundred  years  old. 


1777.]  JOURNAL    AND     LETTERS.  159 

Nov.  19.  Rode  to  St.  Mary,  Ottery,  about  eight  miles  out  ;  it 
is  a  parish,  a  hundred,  and  a  manor  ;  the  lords,  Sir  George  Young 
and  Sir  John  Duntze.  It  is  situated  in  a  vale,  the  river  Otter  run 
ning  through  the  midst,  from  which  the  town  takes  its  name.  The 
centre  is  modern,  built  of  brick,  covered  with  pantile,  a  fire  some 
years  ago  having  destroyed  the  old  buildings,  it  has  a  market,  an 
Episcopal  church  in  the  cathedral  style  of  building  ;  by  tradition 
erected  in  1060,  a  few  years  before  the  Norman  invasion  ;  it  has  a 
look  of  antiquity,  and  is  marked  with  decay  within  and  without. 

Nov.  20.  At  ten  o'clock  departed  from  Ottery,  and  at  one 
alighted  in  Exeter  at  my  intended  lodgings  in  Fore-street. 

Exeter,  Nov.  22.  Walked  abroad,  had  a  conversation  with 
young  Reed,  just  returned  from  Salem,  having  been  carried  in  there 
in  a  prize  ;  from  whom  I  learnt  there  was  no  business  scarcely  but 
privateering,  which  he  represents  as  surprisingly  successful. 

By  the  papers,  I  learn  the  king  in  his  speech  takes  notice  of 
"  the  obstinacy  of  his  rebellious  subjects  in  America"  and  promises 
himself  "  all  needful  assistance  from  his  faithful  Commons."  It 
will  be  well  if  additional  supplies,  and  an  increase  of  foreign 
troops,  do  not  prove  a  source  of  intolerable  evil.  Would  to  God  an 
expedient  could  be  devised  to  terminate  this  unnatural  quarrel, 
consistent  with  the  honor  of  both  parties  ;  but  this  I  fear  is  a  vain 
wish.  The  Dutch,  from  a  sordid  thirst  of  gain,  the  French,  from 
their  dread  of  the  rising  power  of  Great  Britain  united  with  the 
colonies,  and  Spain,  from  an  attachment  to  the  court  of  Versailles, 
are  too  deeply  concerned  to  permit  a  re-union.  Lord  Chatham,  on 
motion  for  an  address  in  the  king's  speech,  says,  "  Without  an  im 
mediate  restoration  of  tranquillity,  this  nation  is  ruined  and  undone. 
What  has  been  the  conduct  of  ministers  1  Have  they  endeavored 
to  conciliate  the  affection  and  obedience  of  their  ancient  brethren  ? 
They  have  gone  to  Germany,  sought  the  alliance  of  every  pitiful, 
paltry  prince,  to  cut  the  throats  of  their  loyal,  brave,  and  injured 
brethren  in  America.  They  have  entered  into  mercenary  treaties 
with  those  human  butchers  for  the  purchase  and  sale  of  human 
blood.  But,  my  lords,  this  is  not  all  ;  they  have  let  the  savages 
of  America  loose  upon  their  innocent  and  unoffending  brethren, 
upon  the  aged,  weak,  and  defenceless  ;  on  old  men,  women,  and 
children  ;  upon  babes  at  the  breast,  to  be  cut,  mangled,  sacrificed, 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


160  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1777. 

burnt,  roasted ;  nay,  to  be  eaten.  These  are  the  allies  Great  Bri 
tain  now  has;  carnage,  desolation  and  destruction,  wherever  her 
arms  are  carried,  is  her  new  adopted  mode  of  making  war.  Our 
ministers  have  made  alliances  at  German  shambles,  and  with  the 
barbarians  of  America,  with  merciless  torturers  of  their  species. 
Whom  they  will  next  apply  to,  I  cannot  tell."  Such  is  Lord 
Chatham's  fire,  such  his  oratory,  such  his  indignation  against  minis 
terial  measures. 

Dec.  14.  This  day  General  Burgoyne's  mortifying  capitulation 
arrived  in  town.  Nothing  could  be  more  disgraceful  and  humilia 
ting,  unless  a  submission  to  the  victor's  power  without  terms.  The 
loss  of  the  military  chest  estimated  at  seventy-five  thousand  pounds, 
the  finest  train  of  artillery  ever  sent  out  of  this  kingdom  before ; 
all  the  boasted  acquisitions  of  the  year's  campaign  gone  at  a 
blow,  and  Canada  on  the  point  of  joining  the  grand  American 
alliance. 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  12th  inst.,  after  Lord  Bar- 
rington's  report  of  army  estimates,  Col.  Barre  rose  and  called  on 
Lord  George  Germaine  to  inform  the  house  whether  the  report  of 
the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne  with  his  army  and  artillery  was 
true  or  false;  which  Lord  George  did  in  a  short  narrative,  and  said 
intelligence  had  been  received  of  the  capture  by  the  way  of  Quebec, 
wrhich  struck  the  house  with  astonishment ;  and  after  a  short  pause 
Col.  Barre  rose,  and  with  an  averted  look,  said :  "  Great  God ! 
who  can  refrain  from  rage  and  indignation  when  the  planner  of  so 
much  misery  relates  with  the  utmost  composure,  the  horrid  tale  of 
a  British  army  destroyed  ?  We  all  know  the  General's  bravery 
and  skill ;  he  did  not  surrender  whilst  there  was  a  possibility  of 
defence  ;  but  while  justice  demands  a  just  eulogium,  what  must  we 
say  of  the  man  who  reduced  so  gallant  an  officer  to  so  sad  an  alter 
native  without  the  smallest  advantage  to  his  country  ?" 

Dec.  18.  From  a  correspondent  at  the  west  of  the  town,  I 
learn  that  the  language  about  the  court  is  nowise  lowered  by  the 
last  news  from  America  ;  "  delenda  est  Carthago"  The  old  poli 
ticians,  neither  biassed  by  hatred  to  Americans,  nor  interested  in  the 
destruction  of  the  colonies,  shake  their  heads  at  this  language. 

Dec.  25,  Christmas.  Service  at  cathedral.  No  shops  opened 
entirely,  rior  business  publicly  or  generally  carried  on : — though 


1777.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  16 1 

the  day  is  otherwise  negligently  enough  observed,  nor  indeed  can 
more  be  expected,  considering  the  low  ebb  of  religion  here. 

Soon  after  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  was  announced  by 
Lord  George  Germaine  in  parliament,  an  adjournment  took  place 
till  after  the  holidays,  whereupon  Sir  George  Young,  Mr.  Baring, 
the  Exeter  member,  and  Mr.  Barre,  hurried  down,  and  it  was  sus 
pected  that  this  foreboded  a  new  parliament,  a  new  ministry,  new 
measures,  and  that  the  most  active  opposition  is  coming  into  play ; 
a  few  days  will  undeceive  the  public,  however.  On  confirmation 
of  the  American  news,  Manchester  offered  to  raise  a  thousand  men 
at  their  own  expense,  to  be  ready  for  service  in  America  in  two 
months,  and  was  followed  soon  after  by  Liverpool.  It  is  said  there 
are  to  be  proposals  for  raising  two  thousand  men  out  of  each 
parish  through  the  kingdom ;  that  the  American  secretary  will; 
resign,  and  Lord  Hillsborough  succeed  him. 

Dec.  31.  The  lenity  shown  to  General  Burgoyne  and  his  army 
is  allowed  on  all  hands  to  do  more  honor  to  America,  than  the  lau 
rels,  reaped  by  the  Howes,  can  bring  to  this  distracted  country.  God 
knows  what  is  for  the  best,  but  I  fear  our  perpetual  banishment 
from  America  is  written  in  the  book  of  fate ;  nothing  but  the 
hopes  of  once  more  revisiting  my  native  soil,  enjoying  my  old 
friends  within  my  own  little  domain,  has  hitherto  supported  my 
drooping  courage ;  but  that  prop  taken  away  leaves  me  in  a  con 
dition  too  distressing  to  think  of;  however,  amidst  the  increasing 
evils  of  old  age  I  have  this  consolation,  that,  mortifying  as  my  lot 
is,  severe  as  my  sufferings  may  be,  their  continuance  cannot  be 
lasting. 

Accompanied  by  Mr.  Smith,  drank  tea  with  Mr.  Towgood,  and 
they  passed  the  evening  and  supped  with  me ;  and  thus  ends  the 
old  year.  Mr.  Pope  observes  : 

"  With  added  years,  if  life  bring  nothing  new, 
But  like  a  sieve  let  every  blessing  through, 
Some  joys  still  lost,  as  each  vain  year  runs  o'er, 
And  all  we  gain  some  sad  reflection  more  : 
Is  that  a  birth-day  ?   'tis,  alas  !   too  clear, 
'Tis  but  the  funeral  of  the  former  year." 


21 


162  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1778 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

TO  DR.  DAUBENY,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Jan.  3,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

By  my  friend  Col.  Browne's  letter,  received  yesterday,!  am  in 
formed  of  Col.  Frye's  arrival  at  Halifax,  and  of  your  quitting  Salem 
and  arrival  in  London.  Pray  inform  me  whether  his  and  your  de 
parture  from  your  settled  abode  arose  from  the  requirements  of  the 
new  established  governments ;  if  there  be  any  in  our  province  of 
sufficient  authority  to  restrain  the  lower  classes  from  their  insolence 
and  outrageous  behavior,  who,  when  the  bands  of  society  are  un 
happily  loosened  and  the  laws  are  forced  into  silence,  do  not  neg 
lect  to  avail  themselves  of  those  times  to  run  riot  against  peace, 
order  and  security,  the  most  valuable  blessings  of  social  civil 
life ; — whether  there  be  any  civil  government  established  in  our 
province — what  it  is — who  the  administrators — who  are  our  Salem 
magistrates — its  condition  with  respect  to  order,  trade,  religion — 
the  state  of  our  society  and  the  situation  of  our  friends  ?  I  could 
fill  a  sheet  with  questions,  but,  loth  to  tax  your  good  nature  too 
heavily,  forbear.  With  congratulations  on  your  safe  arrival  in  a 
land  of  plenty,  and  freedom  from  persecution,  either  on  the  score 
of  religion  or  politics, 

I  remain  your  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

Jan.  6.  Evening  at  Mr.  N.'s,  with  Mrs.  N.  and  Mrs.  Tremlet, 
sisters,  of  excellent  understanding,  great  reading  and  refined  taste. 

Jan.  12.  Bishop  Ross  installed  arch-deacon  in  the  chapter 
house,  as  on  Saturday  he  was  prebend,  and  on  the  following  days 
this  week  is  to  be  successively  canon,  treasurer,  and  bishop ;  each 
ceremony  being  ushered,  accompanied,  or  announced  by  tolling  the 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  163 

great  bell,  and  afterwards  the  chimes  play.  On  the  demise  of  a 
bishop,  the  king  in  effect  chooses  under  the  fallacious  compliment 
of  recommendation  to  the  chapter,  consisting  of  dean,  prebends, 
canons,  etc.,  with  a  conge  d'elire,  or  liberty  to  choose  for  that  pur 
pose  ;  the  choice  falls  of  course  on  the  person  recommended,  and 
is  so  understood.  He  is  then  presented,  kisses  the  king's  hand  on 
his  preferment,  and  is  installed  by  proxy  in  the  distant  see.  He  is 
personally  enthroned  when  his  new  lordship  pleases  ;  how  long  it 
may  be  before  we  are  to  be  favored  with  his  personal  presence,  it 
is  not  said. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Exeter,  Jan.  17,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  account  of  General  Burgoyne's  surrender  is  confirmed,  and 
what  think  you  of  the  Congress  now  ?  Of  American  independ 
ence  ?  Of  laying  the  colonies  at  the  ministers'  feet  ?  Of  Lord 
S.'s  boast  of  passing  through  the  continent  from  one  end  to  the 
other  with  five  thousand  British  troops  •  and  with  a  handful  of  men 
keeping  that  extensive  continent  in  subjection  ?  Of  the  invinci 
bility  of  the  said  troops  ?  Of  the  raw,  undisciplined,  beggarly 
rabble  of  the  northern  colonies  ?  Of  the  humiliating  surrender  of 
a  British  general,  five  thousand  troops,  seven  thousand  small  arms, 
and  thirty-six  pieces  of  brass  artillery,  to  the  aforesaid  rabble  ? 
What  think  you  of  the  pompous  proclamation  of  the  said  general  ? 
Of  the  figure  he  is  now  making  in  the  streets  of  Boston,  compared 
to  his  late  parading  there,  accompanied  by  his  vainly  fancied  in 
vincible  cohorts,  now,  alas !  rendered  as  harmless  and  inoffensive 
animals  as  you  and  I  ?  Of  the  condition  General  Howe  is  now  or 
soon  may  be  in,  should  the  combined  army  of  Washington  and 
Gates,  numerous  as  it  may  be,  perhaps  exceeding  his  own  in  the 
proportion  of  two  to  one,  elated  with  success,  inflamed  with  an  en 
thusiastic  ardor,  invest  Philadelphia,  defended  by  an  army  almost 
worn  out  by  incessant  labor,  having,  as  the  papers  say,  the  shovel 
and  firelock  always  in  their  hands,  and  greatly  weakened  by  losses  ? 
What  think  you  of  the  twenty  thousand  men  voted  in  parliament  a 
few  days  since,  in  addition  to  the  army  now  in  America  ?  Where 
are  they  to  be  raised  ?  Is  not  Russia  on  the  verge  of  a  war  with 


164  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

the  Turks  ?  Have  not  the  two  great  potentates  of  Germany  re 
fused  to  suffer  their  country  to  be  further  drained  of  its  inhabitants? 
Is  not  Denmark  too  feeble,  thinly  peopled,  and  jealous  of  its  potent 
neighbors,  to  furnish  men  ?  Have  we  any  alliance  with  Sweden  ? 
Is  not  Holland  in  the  same  predicament  with  the  former,  and  does 
not  its  commercial  system  forbid  lending  us  aid  ?  Is  not  Portugal 
too  poor,  dependent,  and  unable  if  disposed  ?  Is  not  Spain  unwil 
ling  and  unable,  and  too  much  inclined  to  follow  French  politics  ? 
Nay,  does  not  the  impolicy  of  hiring  troops  from  her,  if  willing  and 
able,  appear  too  glaring  even  in  the  most  desperate  case  ?  And  is 
;not  France  too  insidious  and  insincere,  too  much  interested  both  in 
regard  to  politics  and  commerce,  to  apply  to  her  for  assistance ; 
nay,  would  it  not  be  too  dangerous,  considering  her  former  state  and 
connections  there  ?  Have  not  the  Switzers  too  strong  a  sense^of 
liberty  themselves  to  engage  against  a  cause  wherein  civil  liberty 
is  pretended  to  be  invaded? 

Pray  what  resources,  then,  has  Great  Britain,  without  allies 
able  or  willing  to  afford  the  needed  help  ?  Can  her  own  country 
furnish  the  requisite  numbers  ?  Can  the  manufacturers  spare,  with 
out  essential  injury  to  its  commerce,  a  supply  from  thence  ?  Does 
she  abound  in  laborers  ?  Are  there  not,  rather,  complaints  that  men 
of  the  lower  classes  are  wanting?  Have  not  the  recruiting  parties 
found  great  difficulty  in  raising  men  ?  And  is  it  not  well  known 
that  business  goes  on  slowly  and  heavily  at  this  day  ?  Would  not 
an  act  of  parliament  to  press  men  for  the  American  service,  (and 
without  it,  it  cannot  be  done,)  raise  disturbances  and  insurrections 
think  you  ?  Would  not  raising  new  regiments  from  among  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  disaffect  the  bulk  of  the  nation  ?  In  this  sad 
dilemma,  which  way  can  administration  turn  to  extricate  them 
selves  ?  How  can  they  escape  out  of  this  labyrinth  wherein  they  are 
intricated  ?  What  measures  can  be  adopted  consistent  with  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  this  late  mighty  empire — alas,  how  fallen ! — that 
gave  law  but  a  few  years  ago  to  two  of  the  most  powerful,  politic, 
and  wealthy  states  in  Europe,  and  thereby  peace  to  almost  all  the 
world  ?  Common  sense  and  prudence,  in  the  case  of  a  private 
person,  suggests,  that  when  convinced  his  measures  of  conduct  are 
inadequate  and  incompetent  to  answer  his  wishes  and  designs,  to 
retrace  his  mistaken  steps,  pursue  other  measures,  and  undo  what 


1778.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  165 

has  been  done  wrong ;  for  it  most  surely  is  less  dishonorable  to 
correct  errors  than  pertinaciously  continue  in  a  track  confessedly 
wrong  and  fatal.  Does  not  the  American  secretary,  Lord  George 
Germaine,  seem  to  be  of  this  mind,  when  he  announced  General 
Burgoyne's  surrender  in  the  house,  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  the 
impracticability  of  carrying  on  this  war  any  longer  ?  Has  this  an 
appearance  of  a  pacific  intention,  or  does  it  seem  designed,  as  has 
been  suggested,  to  lull  the  opposition  ?  (which,  however,  I  don't 
consider  but  as  the  effect  of  party  misrepresentation ;  for  you  know 
party  views  every  thing  in  false  lights.)  Think  you  this  an  indi 
vidual  opinion,  uncommunicated  to  his  brethren  in  administration, 
and  unknown  in  the  privy  council,  delivered  without  their  privity, 
connivance  or  consent  1  Is  it  probable  he  will  long  hold  a  post  in 
which  he  must  take  so  active  a  part  as  his  duty  requires,  in  promo 
ting  measures,  in  his  judgment  ineffectual,  and  which  cannot  long 
be  supported  ?  If  a  difference  in  the  higher  departments  begins, 
and  a  derangement  in  administration  should  take  place,  where  will 
it  end  ?  I  shall  tremble  for  the  consequences  at  this  period,  as  it 
will  weaken  government  when  most  it  stands  in  need  of  support 
from  a  general  concurrence.  Did  not  Lord  North  seem  to  yield  to 
the  idea  of  conciliatory  measures  ?  The  designs  of  a  court  are 
deep  and  hidden  ;  who,  by  searching,  can  find  them  out,  till  time, 
the  great  revealer  of  secret  things,  exposes  to  view  the  wisdom  or 
folly,  the  policy  or  impolicy  of  cabinet  councils  ?  The  language  of 
the  court,  the  papers  say,  is,  as  it  ever  has  been,  "  delenda  est  Car 
thago  ;  if  this  be  not  slander,  wo  betide  my  poor  country.  I  con 
fess  I  feel  too  strongly  the  amor  patri&  not  to  wish  it  may  be 
slander  ;  its  enemies  will  never,  I  hope,  exult  over  its  ruins ;  but 
its  inhabitants  be  timely  brought  to  a  just  sense  and  sight  of  their 
real  interest  and  security,  which  in  my  view  consists  only  in  a  close 
connection  with  this  country. 

Vigorous  measures  are  talked  of  there ;  but  in  parliament  the 
language  held  by  the  ministers  seems  mild,  leaning  toward  an 
adjustment  of  matters  otherwise  than  by  the  ultima  ratio  regum; 
the  out-door  talk  is  just  the  reverse  :  unhappy  the  state  of  society 
and  government  that  renders  such  conduct  in  any  regard  expedient. 
Should  government  seriously  wish  and  intend  to  settle  this  quarrel 
amicably,  what  can  be  the  first  step  ?  The  present  situation  of 


166  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

administration  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  story  relative  to  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  who  went  yearly  to  visit  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge, 
remarkable  for  its  roof;  on  being  asked  whether  he  could  construct 
such  another,  replied,  "  Tell  me  where  to  place  the  first  stone,  and 
I  will  engage  to  execute  it."  Are  not  our  state  architects  as  much 
perplexed  and  embarrassed  where  to  lay  the  first  foundation  stone 
whereon  to  erect  a  temple  to  peace  and  concord  ?  Could  they  ever 
devise  a  plan  of  accommodation  dictated  by  wisdom  itself  short  of 
American  independence  ?  Would  the  United  States  condescend  to 
enter  into  a  treaty  with  this  kingdom  after  so  many  proofs  of  their 
ability  to  defeat  their  designs  and  resist  their  most  vigorous  efforts, 
and  from  whom  they  have  received  so  many  supposed  indignities, 
severities,  and  oppressions  ?  I  quit  my  theme  and  lay  down  my 
pen  to  read  the  news  just  brought  in ;  but  before  I  record  it,  let  me 
premise  that  not  a  syllable  of  it  finds  credit  with  me ;  it  is  as  fol 
lows: — "  General  Vaughan,  who  burnt  Esopus  and  made  such  cruel 
havoc  up  Hudson  river,  is  defeated  by  General  Putnam  ;  he  and  his 
army  prisoners ;  that  the  former  has  got  between  General  Clinton  and 
New-York  with  a  separate  army  ;  that  General  Washington  had 
forced  General  Howe's  lines,  destroyed  and  taken  seven  thousand 
men."  Should  this,  or  half  of  it  be  true,  I  warrant  (without  gift 
of  prophecy)  the  game  is  up.  I  forgot  to  add,  Arnold  is  not  killed, 
only  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  with  General  Green  gone  forward 
to  Quebec;  the  American  works  on  the  Delaware  not  yet  forced, 
so  that  the  two  brothers  Howe  can  as  yet  have  communication 
together  till  that  event  takes  place.  General  Howe's  situation 
must  be  very  disagreeable,  not  to  say  dangerous.  I  will  add  a  few 
lines  to  fill  the  sheet.  Newspapers  are  crowded  with  articles  of 
the  offers  of  towns  and  counties  to  enable  his  majesty's  government 
to  carry  on  the  war  against  America,  which  by  some  means  is  now 
become  to  be  considered  as  less  a  ministerial  affair  than  some  time 
ago ;  should  the  proposed  numbers,  however,  be  taken  out  of  the 
manufactories,  I  dare  engage  trade  will  sensibly  feel  it.  Would  to 
God,  that  moderate  and  just  views  of  the  real  interests  of  both 
countries  might  possess  the  minds  of  those  who  direct  the  public 
measures  here  and  there.  That  peace  may  again  take  place,  and 
trade  and  agriculture  and  commerce  be  established  on  a  lasting 
basis,  is  the  most  ardent  wish  of  your  friend,  S.  CURWEN. 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  167 

Jan.  26.  I  am  told  the  officers  lately  arrived  from  America, 
generally  declare  the  conquest  of  it  is  a  vain  expectation,  even 
with  a  very  great  additional  force.  Notwithstanding  this,  the 
ardor  of  the  nation  for  subduing  what  is  called  the  "  American  Re 
bellion"  seems  to  spread  like  a  flame  from  north  to  south  ;  the  new 
troops  talked  of  as  proposed  to  be  raised  immediately,  are  as 
follows  : — Battalion  of  Highlanders  under  Lord  M'Leod,  1000  ; 
Manchester  volunteers,  1000  ;  Duke  of  Argyle's  Highlanders, 
2000  -,  Duke  of  Athol's  Highlanders,  1000 ;  Colonel  Gordon's  do., 
1000 ;  Duke  of  Hamilton's  regiment  of  Arran,  1000  ;  Colonel 
Dalrymple's  loyal  Lowlanders,  1000  ;  midland  Highlanders,  1000  ; 
Sutherland's  and  Mackay's  Highlanders,  1000  ;  Earl  of  Seaforth's 
Highlanders,  1000  ;  Dutch  brigades  to  be  augmented,  5000 ;  Irish 
Roman  Catholics,  5000;  ten  English  battalions,  10,000  : — 31,000. 

Lord  Abington's  motion  to  be  considered  in  parliament,  against 
the  constitutionality  of  persons,  corporations,  towns,  cities  or  coun 
ties  to  raise  men,  and  arm  and  equip  them  ;  and  if  he  defends  his 
position,  it  will  put  a  stop  to  the  loyalty  of  Manchester,  Liverpool, 
Norfolk  county,  and  some  Scotch  lords,  who  have  made  offers  of 
money  and  men  for  carrying  on  the  American  war.  Lord  Abing 
ton's  motion  was  for  summoning  the  judges  to  attend  the  house, 
that  their  opinions  on  this  matter  may  be  known ;  he  considered 
it  not  only  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  but  ex 
pressly  against  the  letter  of  the  law.  The  attempt  to  raise  men 
in  Warwickshire  and  Norfolk  has  failed,  from  the  opposition  of  the 
gentry  and  others. 

Dr.  Robertson,  in  his  history  of  Scotland,  says :  "  When  men 
have  been  accustomed  to  break  through  the  common  boundaries 
of  subjects,  and  their  minds  are  influenced  with  the  passions  which 
civil  war  inspires,  it  is  mere  pedantry  and  ignorance  to  measure 
their  conduct  by  those  rules  which  can  be  applied  only  when 
government  is  in  a  state  of  order  and  tranquillity.  A  nation,  when 
obliged  to  employ  such  extraordinary  efforts  in  defence  of  its  liber 
ties,  avails  itself  of  every  thing  to  promote  its  great  end,  and  the 
necessity  of  the  case  and  importance  of  the  object,  justify  a  depar 
ture  from  the  common  and  established  forms  of  the  constitution." 
This  is  precisely  what  a  sensible  American,  whose  mind  is  strongly 
impressed  with  the  right  of  resistance  to  the  authority  and  arms  of 


168  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1778. 

the  mother  country,  would  offer  in  defence  of  the  many  hardships 
and  violences  imposed  on  his  fellow-countrymen  at  the  present 
momentous  crisis. 

Jan.  30.  This  being  in  Church  of  England  language,  "  King 
Charles's  martyrdom"  it  is  farcically  observed  as  a  fast  day  ; 
churches  open  and  service  suitable  to  the  solemn  occasion  read. 
To  complete  the  absurdity  here,  the  pulpit  of  the  cathedral  was 
covered  with  black  cloth  ;  the  tip-staves,  sword,  and  mace,  carried 
before  the  mayor  in  the  same  grim  garb. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ ,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  January  30,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

General  Burgoyne's  defeat  will,  I  think,  prove  a  prelude  to  a 
succession  of  fatal  events.  The  rapid  increase  of  military  skill  and 
courage  that  enthusiasm  produces,  and  the  great  numbers  of  Euro 
pean  commanders  and  engineers  of  experience  now  incorporated 
amongst  the  Americans,  are  considerations  that  extinguish  my 
expectation  of  the  success  of  the  following  campaign,  even  should 
Great  Britain  send  over  in  season  the  number  of  troops  ordered  by 
parliament,  (and  which  do  not  amount  to  what  all  who  have  lately 
arrived  from  America  agree  to  be  necessary  to  insure  success,  or 
rather,  in  any  good  degree,  render  it  probable.)  May  those  evils 
my  gloomy  mind  forebodes,  exist  only  in  imagination  ;  but  I  must 
confess  I  see,  perhaps  through  a  false  vista,  the  expedition  already 
ended  in  the  disgrace  of  this  powerful  and  wealthy  kingdom,  and 
in  the  ruin  of  that  once  singularly  happy,  but  now,  alas !  deluded, 
wretched  America;  for,  disconnected  from  this  country,  wretched 
it  must  necessarily  be,  if  anarchy  and  the  most  grievous  oppressions 
and  taxes  can  make  a  people  so.  How  weak,  inconsistent,  and 
dangerous  is  human  conduct,  when  guided  by  lawless  ambition,  or 
any  false  or  wrong  motives  !  Into  what  dreadful  evils  are  commu 
nities  often  plunged  by  hearkening  to  the  declamations  of  pretended 
patriots,  of  crafty,  selfish,  unprincipled  demagogues  of  this  and 
many  other  countries;  history  furnishes  us  a  present  mortifying 
proof  and  example. 

You  may  console  yourself  in  the  late  disgrace  of  the  British 
arms,  with  the  hope  that  it  may  revive  the  ardor  and  bravery  hith- 


1778.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  169 

erto  so  peculiarly  characteristic  of  British  troops,  but  similar  causes 
do  not  always  produce  similar  effects.  At  the  time  you  refer  to, 
Rome  was  in  the  meridian  of  her  glory,  war  the  profession  of  her 
citizens  ;  her  inhabitants,  through  all  her  ranks,  were  at  that  period 
actuated  by  the  amor  patrice,  a  principle  publicly  derided  in  this 
age.  Do  not  think  me  a  cynic,  when  I  say,  I  fear  this  nation  has 
sunk  into  too  selfish,  degenerate,  luxurious  a  sloth,  to  rise  into  such 
manly,  noble  exertions  as  her  critical  situation  seems  to  demand : 
for  which  this  people  have  in  times  past  been  famed,  as  the  disaster 
you  mention  formerly  produced  among  the  Romans,  and  as  hereto 
fore  within  my  own  memory,  has  been  the  case  with  this  very  peo 
ple.  But  the  breast  of  every  Roman  was  warmed  with  the  amor 
patrice  at  that  period,  and  with  this  principle  he  could  brave  dan 
gers,  and  even  death,  to  bring  honor  to  his  country  ; — when  riches 
poured  in  upon  them  from  all  quarters  of  the  world,  when  manners 
degenerated,  and  selfish  regards  succeeded  to  the  love  of  country ; 
when  luxurious  tables  and  effeminacy  among  the  higher  ranks  took 
the  place  of  frugal  meals,  and  manly  fortitude,  with  the  sense  of 
honor  sunk  into  venality  and  court  dependence,  they  then  became 
abject,  desponding,  cowardly,  and  were  exposed  to  every  invader, 
and  instead  of  bravely  defending,  abandoned  even  their  lands  and 
wealth  to  be  possessed  by  their  courageous  army ;  and  such  will 
always  be  the  condition  of  every  people  in  similar  periods  of  its 
state.  But  away  with  politics. 

You  ask  when  I  intend  to  come  to  London  j  to  take  a  long, 
expensive  journey  that  road,  I  have  not  at  present  in  contempla 
tion.  Abstract  Col.  Browne,  and  a  few  acquaintances,  and  London, 
in  the  present  state  of  my  finances,  has  not  charms  strong  enough 
to  attract  me  thither.  With  no  relish  for  the  amusements  and 
dissipations  of  that  unavoidably  chargeable  residence,  I  should  ill 
exchange  my  frugal  and  comfortable  board,  in  a  decent  family,  at 
eight  shillings,  for  twenty,  and  a  long  train  of  et  ceteras,  amounting 
to  thirty-five  more  under  strictest  economy.  It  would  add  much  to 
my  enjoyment,  to  have  the  company  of  my  friend  Col.  Browne, 
with  or  without  a  friend  or  two ;  but  to  encourage  his  taking  so  long 
and  tedious  a  journey,  I  dare  not,  having  nothing  to  offer  him  by 
way  of  equivalent  for  his  trouble,  ignorant  as  I  am  of  his  taste  and 
views  of  living :  however,  should  a  plan  of  frugality,  inclination  to 

22 


170  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

ramble,  or  curiosity,  push  you  out  of  the  metropolis,  as  the  season 
grows  milder,  and  chance  or  design  direct  your  steps  to  this  plen 
tiful  and  cheap  quarter,  take  the  following  short  imperfect  sketch. 

Exeter,  for  its  numbers,  is  somewhat  less  than  Boston  ;  in 
buildings  as  unlike  as  the  wrinkled  age  of  fourscore  differs  from  the 
healthy,  florid  complexion  of  thirty.  To  your  or  any  eye  familiar 
to  modern  structures,  this  place  will  appear  as  uncouth  as  a  female 
tricked  out  in  a  ruff  and  fardingale,  or  in  the  court  dress  of  old 
Queen  Bess.  I  am  led  to  this  comparison,  from  having  often  heard 
that  the  houses,  especially  in  Fore-street,  are  of  her  age,  and  in 
deed  they  no  more  resemble  the  modern  than  the  dress  of  that  day 
does  the  present  The  streets  are  narrow,  ill-paved,  and  (I  wonder 
why  not  to  a  proverb)  dirty.  There  is  a  row  of  buildings  in  the 
form  of  the  crescent  at  Bath,  in  the  so  called  modern  style  ;  but 
it  is  crowded  in  a  corner,  out  of  sight ;  built  on  land  belonging  to 
the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  goes  by  the  name  of  his  title,  on  the  site 
of  a  late  noble  palace,  wherein  Henrietta,  the  youngest  daughter  of 
Charles  I.,  was  born  during  his  troubles.  Within  the  walls  are 
three  walks  for  taking  the  air ;  on  the  north,  a  circular  one,  lying 
back  of  the  castle,  encompassed  with  trees,  through  which,  on  the 
outer  side,  over  a  vale  filled  with  houses  and  improved  fields,  are 
cut  vistas ;  much  frequented  here  is  also  the  church-yard,  or  the 
inclosure  within  walls  and  gates ;  round  St.  Peter's,  the  cathedral, 
another  hard  gravel  walk  called  the  Friars,  commanding  a  fine 
field  view,  besides  many  others  without  the  city.  And  for  in-door 
amusements,  a  theatre,  concerts,  a  coffee-house,  called  Moll's,  and 
a  hotel,  both  in  the  church-yard,  where  the  London  papers  are 
brought  four  days  in  the  week. 

Having  filled  my  sheet,  I  conclude  abruptly,  like  Hudibras 
breaking  off  in  the  middle. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

Feb.  3.  This  was  the  day  appointed  for  the  enthronization  or 
installation  of  Bishop  Ross  in  the  episcopal  seat.  The  ceremony 
was  performed  by  Archdeacon  Hull  of  Barnstaple,  the  proxy,  and 
one  of  the  canons  of  St.  Peter's.  The  chapter,  consisting  of  the 
dean,  canons,  prebendaries,  &c.  &c.,  a  set  of  well-fed  priests,  all 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  171 

of  the  largest  dimensions,  (except  the  first,  who  was  in  London,) 
walked  in  procession  to  the  cathedral,  preceded  by  the  officers 
properly  habited,  and  whose  coming  was  announced  by  the  sound 
of  the  great  bell.  Having  arrived  into  the  church,  the  chapter 
proceeded  to  the  throne,  where  they  all  sat  down ;  after  being 
seated  a  short  space,  the  proxy  arose,  and  advancing  to  the  front, 
read  an  oration  in  praise  of  the  late  bishop ;  concluding  with  an 
encomium  on  the  present  one,  in  which  he  declared  he  took  real, 
actual,  and  corporal  possession  of  the  episcopal  chair ;  these  words 
being  the  same  he  used,  and  I  fancy  an  essential  part  of  the  form. 
The  seat,  or  throne,  as  it  is  called,  is  of  a  singular  construction, 
and  the  most  magnificent  of  any ;  it  is  a  square  of  sixteen  feet, 
lined  with  crimson  silk,  the  cushions  velvet  of  the  same  color, 
edged  with  a  broad  gold  fringe ;  the  canopy  thirty  feet  high,  sup 
ported  by  four  wrought  posts,  carved  up  to  the  ceiling  in  Gothic 
open  work,  decreasing  till  it  ends  in  pinnacles ;  opposite  stands 
the  pulpit ;  both  at  the  upper  end  of  the  choir. 

Henry  Grove,  a  dissenting  minister  of  Taunton,  well  known  by 
his  writings  among  those  of  the  same  profession,  wrote  Nos.  588? 
601,  626  and  635,  in  the  8th  volume  of  the  Spectator;  and  Mr. 
Parr,  lately  deceased  in  this  city  of  Exeter,  in  his  eighty-eighth 
year,  wrote  those  signed  A.  B.  in  the  6th  and  7th  volumes,  and 
some  others,  the  signature  of  which  his  son,  Surgeon  Parr,  told  me 
he  had  forgotten. 

Feb.  10.  Received  a  letter  from  William  Cabot,  London,  in 
forming  me  that  by  a  letter  from  Nathan  Goodale,  Salem,  all  friends 
are  well. 

Feb.  14.  Received  a  friendly  letter  from  Mr.  Timmins.  His 
wife  at  Boston,  seeing  no  end  to  the  disturbances,  is  going  to  pluck 
up  stakes,  and  remove  with  flocks,  herds,  and  children. 

Lord  Camden  said  the  other  day  in  the  house  of  peers,  on  the 
Duke  of  Richmond's  motion  to  consider  the  state  of  the  nation, 
with  liberty  to  refer  to  such  papers  as  were  before  them,  "  the 
origin  of  the  mistake  of  our  ministers  in  commencing  the  American 
war,  was  this:  they  ignorantly  supposed  the  Americans  to  be 
cowards,  and  foolishly  imagined  the  French  to  be  idiots." 

Mr.  Woodbridge's  answer  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond  (on  the 
9th  inst.)  was,  that  by  Lloyd's  coffee-house  books,  the  number  of 


172  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1778, 

British  vessels  taken  from  May,  1776,  to  the  present  time  by  Ame 
rican  privateers,  was  seven  hundred  and  thirty-three,  containing 
upwards  of  thirteen  thousand  men.  That  the  aggregate  value  of 
the  ships  and  cargoes,  after  deducting  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  retaken  and  restored,  amounted  to  <£4,823,000  sterling.  The 
number  of  American  privateers  one  hundred  and  seventy-three. 
That  American  products  had  greatly  advanced  in  price ;  tobacco 
from  sevenpence  to  two-and-tenpence, — pitch,  from  eight  shillings 
to  thirty-six ,  tar,  turpentine,  oil,  and  pig  iron,  in  the  same  pro 
portion. 

Feb.  15.  At  the  George  dissenting  meeting-house  Sir  Henry  Tre- 
lawney,  of  fifteen  hundred  a  year,  an  Oxford-bred  scholar,  preached 
from  "  0  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness"  Taking  a 
religious  turn,  he  had  fallen  into  Methodism,  and  set  out  a  flaming 
preacher  of  their  notions,  to  episcopal  orders  superadding  dissent 
ing  admonition  of  the  lowest  kind.  He  has  charge  of  a  small 
flock  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  own  estate  ;  his  natural  good  sense 
has  cooled  his  first  heat,  and  he  now  addresses  with  fervor,  but 
candor  and  affection,  a  crowded  assembly.  Just  as  he  entered, 
before  service  began,  an  elderly  lady  in  the  pew  adjoining  to  the 
one  I  sat  in,  sunk  down  in  a  fainting  fit,  and  breathed  her  last 
without  a  groan  or  struggle. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  February  17,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  would  fain  persuade  myself  my  good  friend  does  not  enter 
tain  unfavorable  sentiments  of  the  rectitude  of  my  principles,  what 
ever  doubts  he  may  have  of  the  justness  of  my  opinion  respecting 
the  appearance  of  things  at  this  juncture,  and  the  probable  issue  of 
this  destructive  quarrel  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies.  I 
presume  it  needs  no  proof  to  convince  him  of  my  leaving  America 
under  a  strong  conviction  of  the  almost  physical  impossibility  of  her 
waging  a  successful  war  with  this  powerful  state,  and  therefore  of 
the  unjustifiableness,  imprudence,  impolicy,  and  even  madness  of 
the  undertaking.  Nothing  short  of  such  a  state  of  mind  could  ab 
solve  me  from  the  imputation  of  the  extremest  folly  to  abandon  my 
country,  friends,  and  estate,  and  all  my  hopes  in  this  world,  at  my 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  173 

time  of  life,  with  but  little  money,  few  connections  here,  and  no 
expectations. 

********** 

The  pernicious  system  of  politics  adopted  by  France,  ever  since 
she  raised  her  views  to  universal  empire  under  Louis  XIV.,  has 
justly  brought  on  her  the  detested  character  of  unfaithful,  false, 
crafty,  and  perfidious ;  so  that  French  faith  now,  like  Punic  of  old, 
you  are  sensible,  goes  current  in  Europe  for  the  four  preceding 
characters ;  nor  has  the  late  behavior  of  the  court  of  Versailles 
failed  to  verify  the  disgraceful  imputation :  even  at  the  very  time 
the  ministers  of  France,  upon  some  spirited  remonstrances  from  our 
court,  were  pouring  forth  a  profusion  of  seemingly  fair  promises 
and  specious  declarations  of  amity  into  the  lap  of  Lord  Stormont, 
ordering  a  few  vessels  with,  and  a  few  without  cargoes,  to  be 
restored  to  their  right  owners,  and  even  shutting  up  their  ports,  on 
paper,  against  American  privateers ;  even  at  that  very  time,  they 
were  not  only  conniving  at,  but  carrying  on  a  contraband  trade  to 
the  revolted  colonies.  In  the  port  of  Nantz  there  lay,  ready  to  sail 
for  America,  three  or  four  large  ships,  laden  with  all  kinds  of  mer 
chandise,  cannon,  and  artillery  stores,  and  waiting  for  a  fair  wind. 
Is  it  not  a  well  known  fact  that  the  most  successful  depredations 
on  the  trade  of  this  island,  that  have  ever  taken  place  in  Europe  or 
the  West  Indies,  are  now  making  on  the  latter  by  French  pirates, 
under  congressional  colors,  and  that  prizes  are  daily  selling  at  open 
market,  and  all  pretences  to  reclaim  denied  ;  now  and  then,  indeed, 
to  save  appearances,  in  imitation  of  ministers  on  this  side  the 
water,  a  few  feeble,  unregarded  prohibitions  are  issued,  but  none 
executed  to  effect. 

Spain,  whose  political  and  commercial  interests  so  naturally 
ally  it  to  England,  that  it  is  even  a  proverb,  "  Paz  con  Inglaferra 
y  guerra  con  todo  el  mundo"*  celebrated  from  time  immemorial  for 
honor,  true  magnanimity,  and  fidelity  to  its  promises,  has  ever 
since  the  Bourbon  idiot  that  now  fills  its  throne,*  *  *  and  ever  since 
the  days  of  his  pusillanimous  father,  adopted  French  manners,  friv 
olity,  levity,  dress,  politics,  and  faith,  to  the  expulsion  of  true  Cas- 
tilian  gravity,  dress,  honor,  and  regard  to  the  real  interest  of  the 

*  "  Peace  with  England,  if  war  with  the  rest  of  the  world." 


174  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

country.  Witness  the  shuffling  and  chicanery  of  the  court  of  Ma 
drid  just  before  the  ill-judged  declaration  of  the  last  war  ;  review  the 
authentic  accounts  of  the  friendly  reception  of  the  American  and 
French  privateers,  and  the  open  trade  of  the  colonies  at  Bilboa, 
Cadiz,  and  all  the  ports  of  Spain  during  these  troubles,  though 
royal  orders,  edicts,  and  mandates,  tagged  with  an  "  Y  el  Rey" 
have  been  successively  transmitted  down  to  the  seaports.  So  well 
are  the  court  purposes  understood,  that  within  four  weeks,  two  or 
three  English  prizes  were  publicly  sold  in  one  of  the  southern  ports, 
in  open  day,  and  the  privateers  refreshed  and  furnished  with  all 
needed  stores,  and  unmolested  suffered  to  depart,  laden  with  the 
substance  and  property  of  the  subjects  of  England.  King  Solomon 
says,  "  where  the  word  of  a  king  is,  there  is  power  ;"  this  he  said 
from  his  own  experience.  Who  in  his  wits  can  believe  that  the 
Spaniards,  or  that  abject  Turkey-race  of  pirates  inhabiting  on  the 
opposite  shore,  durst  have  acted  thus  in  defiance  of  their  sovereign, 
if  they  had  not  well  known  the  artful  distinction  between  his  secret 
and  revealed  will  ?  With  regard  to  the  article  of  Nantz  and  a 
Spanish  port,  they  are  facts  that  stand,  for  aught  I  know,  on  the 
same  footing  of  credibility  with  the  other  articles  of  foreign  intelli 
gence  that  pass  uncontradicted ;  and  if  these  be  facts,  and  facts  are 
of  a  stubborn  nature,  and  bend  not  to  our  wishes,  they  carry  con 
viction,  what  must  we  not  infer,  loth  as  we  may  be  ?  The  natural 
inference  is,  that  both  these  two  courts  do  invariably  adhere  to  the 
line  of  conduct  marked  out  by  them  from  the  commencement  of 
this  trouble,  to  distress  the  government  as  much  as  it  is  in  their 
power,  and  to  steal  away  our  trade.  The  officers  that  throughout 
the  winter  arrived  at  the  western  ports,  passing  through  this  city 
in  their  journey  to  London,  have  one  and  all  declared,  as  some  re 
ports  are,  that  thirty  thousand  men,  at  least,  in  addition  to  those 
already  in  America,  are  necessary  to  effectuate  the  reduction  of  the 
continent.  Probably  these  persons  speak  the  sentiments  of  the 
army  ;  there  is  not,  that  I  know,  reason  to  think  them  disaffected  to 
the  service,  nor  partial  to  America.  The  foregoing  convictions  are 
the  grounds  of  my  fears,  apprehensions,  and  as  you  ask  me  whence 
I  fetch  my  facts,  my  reply  is,  from  the  common  spring-head  of  pop 
ular  intelligence.  My  practice  is  not  to  hunt  after  newspapers,  as 
I  seldom  go  to  the  coffee-houses  \  but  when  they  fall  by  accident 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  175 

into  my  hands,  I  indiscriminately  read  all,  from  the  Court  Gazette, 
published  by  authority,  to  the  Sherburne  Mercury.  The  public 
papers,  I  well  know,  are  justly  stigmatized  vehicles  of  falsehood 
and  sedition  :  I  rarely  attend  to  political  essays  or  remarks,  scarce 
ever  give  them  even  a  cursory  glance ;  articles  of  foreign  intelli 
gence  I  credit  as  far  as  they  are  free  from  self-evident  inconsisten 
cies,  in  respect  of  time  and  other  circumstances.  As  to  country,  my 
principal  view  in  the  choice  has  ever  been  the  instructive  and  en 
tertaining  ;  nor  am  I  unhappy  in  my  few  acquaintances  here  ;  my 
chief  companion  is  a  philosopher  of  my  old  friend  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gilchrist's  stamp,  and  too  deeply  engaged  in  moral  and  philosophi 
cal  researches  to  trouble  one  with  politics,  for  that  is  rarely  a  topic 
of  conversation. 

My  friend,  in  reading  this  tedious  letter,  will  see  the  high  value 
set  upon  his  good  opinion,  and  trust  his  candor  will  make  due  al 
lowance  for  our  difference  in  small  matters,  while  in  essentials  we 
keep  u  the  faith  whole  and  undefiled" 

Wishing  you  increasing  felicity,  I  remain 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

Feb.  25.  The  ministry  on  the  23d  inst.  received  advices  from 
Lord  Stormont  that  five  ships  of  the  line  and  three  frigates  had 
sailed  from  Brest  to  Nantz,  in  order  to  convey  eighteen  transports 
to  America,  laden  with  all  kinds  of  military  stores,  agreeably  to 
the  commercial  treaty  subsisting  between  the  French  and  Ameri 
cans  ;  the  transports  to  return  laden  with  tobacco  from  Virginia. 

TO   REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Exeter,  Feb.  25,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  presume  you  have  seen  Lord  North's  answer  to  Charles  James 
Fox  and  Mr.  Grenville  in  the  house  ;*  'tis  possible,  nay,  too  proba 
ble,  but  'tis  not  authenticated  by  the  ambassador"  This  fatal  treaty- 
is  at  length  executed ;  the  coup  de  grace  is  given  to  British  glory 

*  To  the  inquiry  whether  it  was  true  that  a  treaty  had  been  made  be 
tween  France  and  America. 


176  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

— its  sun  is  set — alas,  how  fallen  !  How  short-sighted  is  human 
wisdom,  how  weak  is  human  power  at  best !  The  roar  of  the  Brit 
ish  lion  will  no  more  be  heard ;  the  French  cock  may  now  crow 
and  strut  undisturbed. 

Americans  that  lately  were  humble  supplicants  to  Great  Britain 
for  aid  against  a  few  French  troops  and  Indian  savages,  disturbing 
her  frontier  settlements,  have  dared — what  have  they  dared  ? — to 
renounce  her  authority  ;  have  set  her  power  at  defiance ;  reduced  her 
commerce;  defeated  her  armies;  sunk  her  national  credit, nay, in 
sulted  her  coasts,  established  their  independence  in  spite  of  all  ef 
forts,  and,  tell  it  not  in  Gath,  allied  itself  to  her  natural,  professed, 
and  most  dangerous  enemy. 

******* 

Your  friend,  S.  CURWEN. 

Feb.  28.  Received  Lord  North's  two  acts  respecting  the  right 
of  taxation  confined  to  commerce,  and  appointing  commissioners  to 
adjust  all  matters  in  dispute.  These  offers  are,  I  fear,  too  late ;  the 
fatal  treaty  with  France  is  already  signed. 

March  2.  By  the  mayor's  zeal  for  a  strict  observance  of  the 
fast,  an  order  to  prohibit  hair-dressers  and  bakers  exercising  their 
callings  was  published.  In  Canon  Barlow's  sermon  in  St.  Peter's 
were  these  remarkable  expressions,  which  for  a  dignitary  of  the 
established  church  wishing  to  rise,  are  singularly  and  dangerously 
bold.  He  said,  "  the  war  with  America  was  unjust ;  that  they  are 
a  religious  people  and  may  expect  a  blessing,  and  we  the  re 
verse." 

March  6.  The  court  hurried  away  the  Andromeda  with  Lord 
North's  conciliatory  propositions  to  the  Howes  in  America. 

March  8.  Yesterday  the  French  ambassador  declared  to  Lord 
Weymouth,  that  France  had  signed  a  treaty  of  amity  and  alliance, 
or  of  friendship  and  commerce,  with  the  United  States  of  America, 
who,  said  he,  are  in  full  possession  of  independence,  as  pronounced 
by  them  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1776,  without  stipulating  any  ex 
clusive  advantages  in  favor  of  the  French  nation,  and  that  the  Uni 
ted  States  have  reserved  to  themselves  liberty  of  treating  with 
every  nation  whatever,  upon  the  same  footing  of  especiality  and 
reciprocity. 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  177 

Being  in  the  country,  our  advices  from  London  are  that  a  war 
with  France  is  dreaded ;  there  is  fear  of  a  general  bankruptcy. — 
It  is  further  said  the  present  administration  is  almost  universally 
reprobated — 'tis  in  my  mind  a  doubt  whether  in  the  dregs  of  the 
state  less  interested  ministers  can  be  found,  though  perhaps  of  more 
salutary  politics,  but  the  problem  time  only  can  solve.  All  men 
here  love  money  and  power  too  ardently  to  sacrifice  either  to 
interest  or  peace  of  state.  'Tis  therefore,  I  fancy,  equally  indiffer 
ent  who  are  or  shall  be  our  political  cooks ;  the  pottage,  I  fear, 
will  be  spoiled.  Stocks  have  fallen  to  59  1-2,  which  has  pro 
duced  an  almost  universal  panic. 

March  15.  Despatches  for  the  Howes  passed  through  this 
city  ;  contents  a  secret. 

TO  DR.  JOHN  PRINCE,  HALIFAX. 

Exeter,  March  15,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  favor  of  the  20th  Jan.  came  to  my  hands  a  few  days  since 
from  London ;  the  advice  of  your  retreat  to  Halifax  I  received  in  a 
letter  from  my  friend  Col.  Browne.  The  spirit  of  intolerance 
among  our  New  England  brethren  I  vainly  wished  might  have 
abated,  they  having,  at  the  period  of  your  departure,  nothing  to 
dread  from  the  few  individuals  who  could  not,  toto  corde,  embrace 
the  political  orthodoxy  of  the  multitude  and  their  directors.  I 
doubt  not  that  prudence  would  have  screened  and  secured  you  from 
the  rage  and  insult  of  the  lower  classes,  and  rendered  life  tolera 
ble,  if  prudence  could  have  had  its  due  influence ;  but,  such  is  the 
popular  violence  when  once  it  unhappily  takes  place,  and  may  be 
exercised  without  restraint  and  fear  of  punishment,  that  like  an 
irresistible  torrent  it  bears  down  all  before  it ;  laws,  justice,  truth, 
religion,  the  rights  of  humanity,  civility,  conscience,  are  made  to 
rush  impetuous  down  the  mighty  stream. 

I  ardently  wish  once  more  to  visit  my  natale  solum,  and  impa 
tiently  wait  for  the  day  of  my  redemption;  would  I  could  say  it 
draweth  nigh,  but  I  see  no  end  of  the  baneful  ill-omened  war,  for 
news  has  arrived  of  a  declaration  by  France  against  us.  Should' 
it  prove  true,  Great  Britain  has  the  worst  to  fear ;  even  her  inde- 

23 


178  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

pendency  is  at  stake  ;  for  aught  I  can  see,  France  has  drawn  down 
from  the  interior  almost  all  her  troops  to  the  English  channel. 
She  has  forty-four  capital  ships  ready  for  sea;  not  a  vessel  is  al 
lowed  to  go  to  Newfoundland  from  France,  in  order  to  man  the 
fleet.  La  Motte  Piquet  with  five  capital  ships  and  eighteen  large 
transports  sailed  about  a  fortnight  since,  avowedly  bound  to 
America,  laden  with  military  stores.  Spain  has  forty  capital  ships 
ready  for  sea,  which  are  waiting  only  for  the  arrival  of  the  Vera 
Cruz  fleet ;  should  then  these  united  fleets  of  more  than  fourscore 
ships  attempt  invasion,  Great  Britain  has  only  thirty-seven  ships 
of  the  line  and  eleven  frigates  to  oppose  them. 

Lord  North  has  proposed  terms  of  reconciliation,  but  nothing 
short  of  independency  will  go  down  with  the  colonies.  France 
will  support  them  ;  all  thoughts  of  conquest,  of  unconditional  sub 
mission,  be  assured,  are  given  up  ;  and  I  fear  much  more,  that  the 
colonies  have,  contrary  to  their  real  interest  and  safety,  entered 
into  a  league  offensive  and  defensive  against  the  parent  state. — 
But  it  is  a  melancholy  truth,  which  almost  every  day's  experience 
verifies,  that  passion  and  resentment  often  urge  men  and  states  to 
actions  and  courses  destructive  of  their  manifest  interest  and  safety, 
and  such  will  America  find  in  the  end  this  alliance  will  prove, 
should  Great  Britain  in  the  event  become  thereby  oppressed.  I 
could  wish  (but  wishes,  alas,  are  vain)  America  had  seen  her  in 
terest  in  another  point  of  light ;  far,  very  far  am  I  from  wishing 
her  oppressed,  or  her  liberties  restrained ;  I  am  fully  convinced 
the  colonies  will  never  find  any  good  purpose  answered  by  inde 
pendence.  God  only  knows  what  is  before  us,  and  may  we  be 
prepared  for  his  allotments  with  submissive  resignation. 

I  find  myself  fast  declining  into  the  vale  of  life,  therefore  less 
able  to  struggle  with  the  unavoidable  evils  of  this  inconstant  state, 
than  in  the  days  of  more  strength  and  vigor. 

Believe  me,  with  real  regard,  yours, 

S.  CURWEN, 

TO  GEORGE  RUSSELL,  ESQ.,  BIRMINGHAM. 

Exeter,  March  16,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  dark  and  threatening  cloud  hanging  over  this  island  calls 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  179 

aloud  for  a  more  serious  turn  of  mind  than  seems  to  characterize 
the  present  period ;  but  how  sadly  true  is  the  reverse  of  such  a 
state  of  mind  amongst  us  at  this  day ;  thoughtlessness,  levity, 
frivolous  manners,  mirth  and  music,  seem  to  have  seized,  and  en 
gross  the  upper  ranks  j  attention  to  business  and  a  supine  disregard 
to  national  danger  and  honor,  do  they  not  too  justly  characterize 
the  middle  ranks  ?  As  for  the  canaille,  they  are  here,  as  they  ever 
have  been,  and  will  be  in  all  states  and  times,  stupidly  indifferent 
and  unconcerned  in  the  midst  of  impending  destruction.  If  the 
features  of  this  ill-favored  portrait  are  in  your  opinion  too  harsh, 
believe  me,  it  was  not  drawn  by  a  pencil  dipped  in  gall,  nor  dic 
tated  by  envious  misanthropy  ;  I  am  no  cynic,  nor  cursed  with  the 
spirit  of  a  cloistered  monk.  The  warmest  regards  to  the  country 
which  by  long  residence  has  become  an  altera  patria,  and  holds 
the  second  place  in  my  affection,  few  and  faint  as  my  connections 
with  individuals  are, — the  most  earnest  wishes  of  my  heart  for  its 
safety,  and  foreboding  apprehensions  of  its  danger  and  dishonor, 
occasion  the  painful  reflections  that  cease  not  hourly  to  distress  my 
mind. 

When  I  contemplate  the  decline  and  final  period  of  states 
great  and  powerful,  and  their  causes,  which  in  the  history  of  the 
world  are  found  to  be  uniformly  the  same  ;  that  often  in  the  midst 
of  thoughtless  security  and  apparent  safety  they  are  on  the  brink 
of  ruin,  and  often  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  plunged  irretrievably 
therein  j  that  as  divines  say  with  regard  to  men,  and  experience 
confirms  its  truth  in  both  respects,  "  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in 
death  ;" — I  cannot  review  the  state  of  Great  Britain  four  years 
since,  and  regard  the  present  alarming  crisis  without  horror,  with 
out  trembling.  Perhaps  to  a  mind  by  nature  formed  and  turned 
as  mine  unhappily  is,  to  doubt  and  despondency,  danger  may  pre 
sent  a  more  ghastly,  terrifying  aspect  than  is  natural ;  be  it  so,  may 
my  apprehensions  exist  only  in  imagination.  I  had  much  rather 
have  weakness  of  judgment,  ignorance  and  error  justly  imputed  to 
me,  than  that  the  event  should  verify  my  predictive  fears  : — I  had 
rather  be  a  mistaken  man  than  a  true  prophet. 

France  and  Spain,  to  compare  great  things  with  small,  like  the 
heroes  in  romance,  are  armed  cap-a-pie,  at  all  points,  ready  to  sally 


180  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

forth,  not  like  those  redoubted  sons  of  Mars  and  Venus  to  relieve 
distress,  but  to  cause  it.  Your  friend,  &c. 

S.  CURWEN. 

March  17.  This  being  assize  week,  Judges  Perryn  and  Ho- 
tham  were  waited  on  by  the  sheriff  and  his  officers,  about  two 
•dozen  in  livery.  Commission  sat  in  Guildhall : — Baron  Perryn  on 
the  bench ;  great  celerity  in  despatching  business,  and  great  inter- 
juption  by  talking,  which  the  court  authorities  could  not  remove. 

March  20.  Heard  the  dreaded  sound,  war  declared  against 
iFrance !  It  is  reported  the  house  of  lords  is  almost  in  a  tumult, 
-and  that  they  implore  the  king  to  drive  from  his  service  his  minis 
ters,  and  take  Lords  Chatham,  Camden,  and  Shelburne. 

March  21.  The  judges  left  the  city,  escorted  out  by  the  sheriff 
;and  his  train, — trumpets  preceding,  etc. 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  181 


CHAPTER    IX. 

TO  JUDGE  SEWALL,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  March  23,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  was  meditating  an  answer  to  your  favor,  when  the  alarming 
intelligence  of  the  French  court's  perfidious  dealings,  and  the  hourly 
expectation  of  war  against  her,  arrived  here.  The  denouement  of 
the  plot,  by  the  French  ambassador's  declaring  in  form  to  Lord 
Weymouth  his  court's  interference  and  engagement  to  support  the 
claims  of  Congress,  seems  at  present  to  render  all  speculation  on 
the  subject  of  Great  Britain's  further  attempts  to  reduce  her  late 
deluded  subjects  in  America  needless :  presuming  all  thoughts  in 
regard  to  vigorous  efforts  being  to  be  laid  aside,  superseded,  at  least 
for  the  present,  as  the  papers  inform  us  no  more  troops  are  to  be 
sent  out. 

These  events  my  fears  have  been  long  predictive  of;  not  that 
I  pretend  to  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  or  the  gift  of  second  sight. 
States,  like  individuals,  are  liable  to  so  many  sudden  and  unlocked 
for  vicissitudes,  disappointments,  untoward  accidents,  and  evils  that 
neither  wisdom  can  foresee,  nor  power  nor  prudence  prevent ;  he 
whose  mind,  not  however  to  the  increase  of  his  enjoyment,  leans 
towards  doubts,  fears,  and  apprehensions  of  evils,  generally  finds 
more  events  corresponding  to  his  forebodings,  than  he  whose  atten 
tion  is  turned  to  the  brighter  and  more  pleasing  views  that  hope 
presents. 

The  plan  Lord  North  has  offered,  is,  it  seems  to  me,  founded  in 
wisdom  and  sound  policy,  as  you  observe  it  contains  nearly  all  that 
America  can  reasonably  wish  for,  and  as  it  is,  thence  she  can  de 
rive  more  real  happiness  and  safety  than  is  fondly  and  vainly  ex 
pected  from  their  favorite,  long  wished  for,  and  perhaps  short-lived 
independence : — for  should  Great  Britain  in  this  expected  war  be 
oppressed,  what  will  save  some  of  the  colonies  from  falling  a  prey 
to  the  insatiable  ambition  of  those  powerful  crowns  united,  I  know 


182  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

not ;  it  would  be  well  if  they  should  be  satisfied  with  the  recovery 
of  their  late  possessions  there.  The  consideration  of  the  burden 
necessary  to  maintain  an  independent  state  with  dignity  has  never 
yet,  I  presume,  during  the  feverish  paroxysm  of  our  new  legislators 
and  government-modellers,  been  a  subject  of  calculation ;  for  how 
ever  fertile  their  brains  have  been  of  expedients,  they  are,  I  fear, 
but  indifferently  skilled  in  political  arithmetic. 

Your  sentiments  on  the  operation  of  the  two  conciliatory  acts, 
and  answers  to  objectors,  appear  to  me  to  be  perfectly  just,  and  I 
am  happy  to  say  mine  are  so  completely  coincident,  that  had  I 
taken  as  many  hours,  as  probably  were  employed  in  writing  them 
down,  I  could  not  have  expressed  them  in  terms  so  clear,  concise, 
and  satisfactory  to  myself  as  in  the  letter  I  am  now  considering ;  I 
can  therefore  subscribe  to  them  toto  ex  animo.  The  improbability 
of  their  acceptance  of  the  terms  offered  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water,  and  of  Great  Britain's  ability  to  force  them  into  a  compliance 
at  present,  seems  to  be  a  matter  out  of  dispute.  I  am  not  vain 
enough  to  wish  myself  in  the  king's  councils,  but  I  ardently  wish 
that  imaginary  principle  of  national  honor,  the  king's  honor,  might 
in  this  critical  and  dangerous  condition  the  nation  seems  to  be  in, 
be  dispensed  with  and  given  up  to  infinitely  more  important  con 
siderations,  notwithstanding  the  clamors  and  reproaches  to  be  ex 
pected  from  discontented,  interested  party  men.  That  the  war, 
should  it  unfortunately  soon  commence,  to  vindicate  the  king's 
honor  or  nation's,  must  produce  disgrace  and  irreparable  losses  to 
the  nation,  a  review  of  the  present  force  Great  Britain  has,  her 
foreign  dominions,  etc.,  and  the  force  requisite  to  secure  her  right, 
may  perhaps  convince : — nor  less  so,  Great  Britain's  inability  at 
present  to  force  a  compliance  or  convince  them  by  military  exer 
tions,  that  it  is  their  interest  to  accept  her  reasonable  offers.  The 
lucky  minute  for  such  an  offer  is  past,  irretrievably  past,  and  a 
series  of  surprising  events,  owing  to  ill  concerted  plans,  interested 
views,  a  total  disregard  to  the  public  weal,  or,  if  you  please,  a  cer 
tain  fatality,  has  taken  place,  by  which  colonies  of  inestimable 
value  are  lost  to  this  country ;  and  I  wish  the  loss  may  end  there. 

The  subject  that  at  present  most  employs  and  oppresses  my 
mind  is  the  critical  and  dangerous  situation  that  the  kingdom  seems 
to  be  in.  The  tottering  condition  of  national  credit,  the  weak  state 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AtfD     LETTERS.  183 

of  the  navy,  the  great  power  of  the  enemy,  and  the  low  price  of 
stocks,  as  low  as  at  the  end  of  the  last  eight  years'  war,  when  the 
nation  was  almost  drained  of  its  specie,  are  the  considerations  on 
which  I  form  my  opinion.  Lord  North,  on  presenting  the  king's 
rescript  to  the  house,  uttered  what  was  sufficiently  alarming,  that 
the  reluctance  to  the  present  loan  arose  not  so  much  from  the  pros 
pect  of  war,  as  the  largeness  of  the  national  debt ;  it  is  of  little  im 
portance  what  is  the  cause,  should  a  national  bankruptcy  happen. 
Should  another  panic  like  that  of  last  Saturday  again  seize  the 
monied  men,  and  continue,  and  the  loan  be  stopped,  no  one  but 
may  foresee  the  most  dreadful  consequences ;  should  the  present 
loan  be  completed,  a  new  war  would  require  another  of  equal 
amount,  and  the  low  price  of  stocks  continuing,  it  will  be  well,  if 
instead  of  .£450,000  premium  paid  more  than  in  1765,  £900,000 
would  tempt  the  lenders  to  advance,  unless  new  resources  can  be 
found,  which  my  ignorance  on  this  point  makes  me  incompetent  to 
judge.  It  is  a  fact  of  too  much  notoriety  to  be  denied,  if  the  con 
tractors  avail  themselves  of  the  immense  debt  by  this  artful,  selfish 
management,  the  public  is  supplied  at  an  extravagant,  unreasona 
ble  profit  to  the  lenders,  founded  I  suppose  on  this  principle,  that  a 
sponge,  sooner  or  later,  must  wipe  all  out  at  a  stroke.  It  is  cer 
tain  the  more  government  has  occasion  to  borrow,  proportionably 
are  its  disadvantages  in  procuring  supplies ;  and  unless  a  new  and 
reformed  system  of  economy  be  adopted,  the  premiums  may  not 
unlikely  rise  to  cent  per  cent,  especially  if  Mr.  Burke's  assertions 
in  the  House  of  Commons  be  true,  that  the  contractors  made  a 
profit  of  57  1-2  per  cent.  Should  America  be  lost  to  this  country, 
with  her  will  be  lost  a  considerable  revenue,  and  what  can  be  sub 
stituted  in  its  room,  financiers  can  best  tell  us.  Should  a  war  with 
the  Bourbon  family  be  attended  with  any  possessions  in  the  East 
or  West  Indies,  and  thereby  other  valuable  branches  of  the  revenue 
be  cut  off,  I  leave  you  to  judge  the  distresses  that  must  unavoida 
bly  befall  this  nation.  The  wealth  of  all  nations  is  exhaustible. 
All  things  are  called  greater  or  less,  stronger  or  weaker,  by  com 
parison.  The  fleet  of  Great  Britain  is,  in  itself  considered,  great 
and  formidable,  but  when  compared  to  the  united  fleet  of  the  two 
Bourbons,  whether  it  does  in  its  present  condition  deserve  that  cha 
racter,  no  Englishman  will,  I  presume,  affirm  : — fifty-one  English 


184  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

line  of  battle  ships,  no  one  in  his  senses  will  say  are  a  match  for 
eighty-six  French  and  Spanish  ships  of  equal  force.  Confident  as 
we  may  be  of  the  superiority  of  our  English  sailors  to  all  other 
nations  in  vigor,  bravery  and  skill,  we  should  be  loth  to  put  our 
liberties  or  independency  on  the  success  of  a  battle  fought  under 
such  confessedly  disadvantageous  and  unequal  circumstances ;  and 
the  ability  of  Great  Britain  to  build  and  fit  for  the  sea  such  an  ad 
ditional  number  as  will  put  us  on  an  equal  or  superior  footing,  be 
fore  some  fatal  blow  be  struck,  is  a  question  on  which  the  well- 
being  if  not  existence  of  this  kingdom  as  an  independent  state  may 
depend.  In  my  view  I  could  wish  national  as  well  as  royal  honor 
might  in  this  case  be  yielded  up  to  the  infinitely  more  important 
consideration  of  our  self-preservation,  and  the  gross  affronts  of 
fered  by  France  pocketed  till  they  can  be  resented  with  a  fair 
chance  of  coming  off  victors  in  the  quarrel.  Should  a  war  speed 
ily  be  entered  into  before  we  are  better  prepared  for  offence  and 
defence,  I  can't  help  fearing  this  late  powerful  and  flourishing  em 
pire  to  be  hastening  by  large  strides  to  irrevocable  ruin  and  indeli 
ble  disgrace,  and  but  too  likely  to  furnish  a  second  instance  in  this 
period  of  a  once  great,  rich  and  powerful  state  reduced  to  insignifi 
cancy  in  the  political  scale  of  Europe,  by  a  dismemberment  of 
some  of  its  most  valuable  appendages,  consigned  over  to  its  am 
bitious  and  more  powerful  neighbors.  I  wish  posterity  may  not 
quote  Poland  and  Great  Britain  as  states  in  the  same  predicament 
from  the  future  annals  of  Europe. 

This  ill-favored  picture  probably  you  may  laugh  at,  but  it  is  to 
be  remembered  you  are  supported  by  hopes,  I  oppressed  by  fears ; 
you  in  the  train  of  Heraclitus,  I  of  the  weeping  philosopher ;  but 
nature  has  formed  us  of  different  materials  in  our  original  contex 
ture,  and  on  my  part  habit  and  accident  have  confirmed  the  unhappy 
bias.  Whatever  your  sentiments  may  be  of  this  reverie,  dream, 
rhapsody,  or  whatever  indignant  epithet  you  may  perhaps  justly 
enough  think  it  deserving  of;  1  know  you  will  believe  me  when  I  tell 
you  they  are  the  real  sentiments  of  a  mind  oppressed  with  concern  for 
the  safety,  welfare  and  honor  of  a  country,  which  by  long  residence 
has  become  my  altera  patrice,  and  for  aught  I  know  will  continue 
to  be  so  till  I  take  my  flight  to  the  upper  regions,  or  time  shall 
cease  to  be  no  more  with  me  here.  Continue  to  think  favorably, 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  185 

and  believe  me  what  is  my  highest  ambition  to  be,  an  honest  man, 
and  your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Exeter,  March  31.  Witnessed  a  long  dispute  on  American  af 
fairs  between  Mr.  Bretland  and  Mr.  Erving.  I  did  not  interfere ; 
the  opponents  neither  convinced  nor  conquered,  as  is  usual  in  such 
cases. 

April  8.  Heard  of  Rebecca  Tyng's  marriage  to  John  Lowell 
of  Newburyport.  Visited  Mr.  Tremlet's  on  David's  hill  with  com 
pany  as  follows :  the  parson  of  the  parish  and  lady,  Mr.  Pearce, 
Mrs.  Abbot  and  Miss  Hicks ;  after  tea  passed  half  an  hour  in  his 
delightful  garden ;  he  presented  me  with  a  beautiful  bouquet  of  a 
great  variety  of  odoriferous  flowers,  now  adorning  my  room. 

April  9.  Mr.  Erving  called  me  out  to  walk;  our  course 
Cowley  bridge.  He  seems  of  a  sensible,  grave  turn,  not  unac 
quainted  with  moral  science,  and  exceedingly  communicative. 
Afterwards  rode  to  Topsham  on  horseback ;  passed  by  an  estate 
kept  in  the  male  branch  of  a  family,  without  addition  or  diminu 
tion  ever  since  the  conquest. 

April  11.  With  Mr.  and  Miss  Bretland  rambled  through 
Winiford  lane  to  Heavitree ;  in  one  of  the  buttresses  of  the  church 
grows  out  a  yew-tree,  three  feet  high,  cut  into  a  fanciful  form,  and 
supposed  to  receive  its  nourishment  from  cement  moistened  by  rain 
and  dew.  The  church  has  marks  of  age  and  decay. 

April  13.  Mr.  Smith  from  Sidmouth  breakfasted  with  me; 
visited  Mr.  Morgan  confined  by  illness ;  there  met  Mr.  Berry  of 
Crediton.  The  land  tax  at  four  shillings  in  the  pound  produces 
two  millions ;  the  real  tax  on  a  medium  is  two  shillings  nearly, 
which,  being  a  tenth  part  of  income,  makes  that  to  be  twenty  mil 
lions.  Should  an  expensive  war  or  some  unforeseen  accident 
throw  the  nation  into  a  convulsion,  and  discourage  lending  and 
lessen  supplies,  it  would,  of  course,  reduce  the  value  of  lands,  per 
haps  to  twenty-five  years  purchase ;  their  real  value  then  would 
be  five  hundred  millions.  Court  value  of  the  kingdom  supposed  to 
be  eighteen  millions,  for  the  following  reasons,  viz. :  fifteen  mil 
lions  were  brought  into  the  mint  to  be  new  coined  on  proclamation ; 
the  remainder,  coin  of  George  II.  and  III.,  full  weight,  still  con- 

24 


186  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

tinuing  current,  amount  to  three  millions.  Amount  of  fabrics, 
plate,  etc.  etc.,  on  a  modest  computation,  is  worth  one  hundred 
millions ;  making  in  all  six  hundred  millions. 

A  nation  possessing  more  than  twice  as  much  as  it  owes,  need 
not  fear  bankruptcy; — England's  debt  being  one  hundred  and 
sixty  millions.  I  pretend  not  to  judge  what  would  be  the  full  issue 
of  a  shock  to  national  credit,  much  less  dare  I  determine ;  but  I 
confess,  I  fear  it  would  be  followed  by  dreadful  convulsions,  and 
produce  cruel  ravages  and  carnage  among  the  lower  classes,  who, 
being  deprived  of  daily  subsistence  for  want  of  daily  employ,  on 
stoppage  of  trade  and  manufactures,  would  not  contentedly  sit 
down  and  suffer  themselves  with  their  wives  and  little  ones  to 
perish  with  hunger ;  nor  even  those  whose  large  incomes,  derived 
from  national  funds,  being  now  stopped,  are  reduced  to  a  level  with 
the  most  indigent,  and  whose  wants  being  supplied  from  their 
charity,  are  now  their  equal  fellow-sufferers. 

List  of  men  by  last  returns,  for  America  19,381 ;  prisoners 
5,336;  sick  4,639;  loss  in  navy  4,314;  army  in  New-York, 
Philadelphia,  Rhode  Island  and  Canada  36,731 ;  to  recruit  army  to 
what  it  was  last  year  11,885  ;  captures  made  by  Americans  amount 
to  .£2,600,000. 

April  20.  On  horseback  to  Spencecomb,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Rowe, 
near  Crediton,  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Miss  Bretland  ;  passed  an 
agreeable  day,  with  a  numerous  company  ;  this  is  a  week  of  fes 
tivity  following  Easter  Sunday — hospitably  lodged  and  entertained ; 
our  host  is  of  the  rank  called  gentlemen-farmers,  or  landholders  in 
fee  of  estates  from  <£100  to  .£800  sterling  per  annum.  A  medal 
has  lately  been  struck  at  Paris,  by  order  of  Monsieur  Voltaire,  in 
honor  of  General  Washington  ;  on  one  side  is  the  bust  of  the  gen 
eral,  with  this  inscription :  «  G.  Washington,  Esq.,  commander  of 
the  continental  army  in  America."  The  reverse  is  decorated  with 
the  emblems  of  war,  and  the  following  :  "  Washington  reunit  par 
line  rare  assemblage  les  talens  du  Guerrier  et  les  vertus  du  Sage." 

April  26.  Commissioners  appointed  to  go  over  to  America  to 
settle  the  dispute,  if  practicable,  Earl  of  Carlisle,  Lord  Howe,  Sir 
Wm.  Howe,  Wm.  Eden,  Esq.,  and  Governor  Johnston,  sailed  from 
Spithead  on  the  22d,  and  I  fear  it  will  prove  a  re  infectd  business. 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  187 

TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  April  26,  1778. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

By  our  common  friend,  Mr.  Smith,  just  returned  by  way  of 
Bristol,  I  am  informed  Mrs.  Browne  is  with  you  ;  'tis  with  great 
sincerity  I  congratulate  her  and  you  on  her  safe  arrival ;  would  to 
God  it  had  been  under  more  favorable  circumstances  ;  such  as  they 
are,  your  religion  and  philosophy,  I  am  well  assured,  can  improve 
them  to  the  best  purposes.  I  presume  London  will  not  long  con 
tinue  the  place  of  your  abode  ;  if  you  have  no  predilection  for  a 
particular  quarter,  and  are  deliberating  what  course  to  take,  no 
thing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  afford  you  all  the  information 
respecting  these  parts  you  may  wish  to  have.  It  would  yield  me 
inexpressible  satisfaction,  could  Exeter,  or  its  neighborhood,  be 
your  choice ;  I  can  assure  you,  that  for  cheapness,  plenty  and  good 
provisions,  especially  fish,  poultry,  game,  and  garden  stuff,  noplace 
excels  and  few  equal  it.  Late  conversations  with  Col.  Erving, 
from  whom  I  had  intimations  of  your  desire  to  him  last  January  to 
be  informed  relative  to  these  parts,  (who  owns  himself  to  blame 
in  not  attending  to  it,)  induce  the  foregoing.  If  your  views  are 
fixed,  I  wish  the  pleasure  of  your  abode  may  be  equal  to  your 
highest  wishes.  A  line  from  my  worthy  friend  will  never  fail  to 
be  a  most  acceptable  present.  With  the  warmest  wishes  for  your 
felicity,  I  am 

Yours  and  Mrs.  Browne's  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  JOHN  TIMMINS,  ESQ.,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  April  30,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  this  day  received  a  letter  from  Eben.  West,  now  on 
board  the  Medway,  lying  in  the  Downs,  who  is  in  want  of  neces 
saries.  He  was  with  me  in  my  business  at  the  commencement  of 
the  troubles  in  New  England,  and  by  consent,  left  me  to  go  to  sea 
in  his  father's  employ,  till  taken  by  the  Enterprise  frigate,  on  the 
20th  of  last  July,  carried  to  Gibraltar,  and  from  thence  brought  to 
England,  where  he  has  been  ever  since.  I  think  it  but  charity  to 


188  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

advance  a  little  for  him,  and  therefore  wish  you  to  convey  two 
guineas  to  him  for  me.  I  presume  Mr.  William  Cabot  would  not 
refuse  an  old  neighbor's  son  some  small  assistance,  nor  Col.  Browne 
a  young  suffering  townsman,  to  whom,  as  occasion  may  serve,  you 
will  do  me  a  favor  by  mentioning  his  name,  with  the  situation  he 
is  in;  nor  \vould  it  be  improper  if  they  could  procure  a  small  sup 
ply  of  money  from  his  countrymen,  wrho  must  have  a  fellow-feeling 
of  others'  sufferings,  at  the  same  time  themselves  experiencing  the 
vevil  of  banishment  from  their  country  and  the  means  of  subsistence. 
I  am  your  obliged  friend  and  humble  servant, 

S.    CURWEN. 

May  1.  Walked  with  Col.  Erving  to  Mr.  John  Tremlet's 
liouse,  David's  hill,  (the  supposed  site  of  an  old  Roman  temple,) 
to  see  a  lamp  having  Diana's  emblem,  a  crescent ;  the  points 
crowned  each  with  a  ball,  and  thought  to  belong  to  a  temple  of 
the  goddess  there,  judged  of  more  than  two  thousand  years'  anti 
quity.  This  being  May-day,  the  milk  maids  walk  in  procession 
with  their  pyramid  of  plate,  as  usual  on  this  day. 

May  5.  Mr.  Smith  brought  me  a  Massachusetts  exclusion  bill, 
•whereby  all  who  left  New  England  after  19th  April,  1775,  are  for 
ever  banished,  and  their  estates  forfeited. 

May  7.  Took  tea  at  Col.  Erving's,  with  Mr.  Smith  ;  agreed 
on  a  journey  to  Tiverton  with  them. 

May  8.  At  nine  o'clock  set  out  in  a  post-chaise  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Erving,  and  my  friend  Mr.  Smith  on  horseback,  to  Tiverton. 
Alighted  at  Three  Tuns  inn,  at  twelve  o'clock,  passing  on  a  plea 
sant  turnpike  fourteen  miles.  This  town  is  supported  by  serge- 
making,  for  which  it  was  formerly  noted,  now  believed  to  be  on 
the  decline.  Some  houses  in  good  taste ;  it  has  two  dissenting 
congregations  and  one  Anabaptist ;  the  Episcopal  church  is  a 
venerable  pile,  low,  outside  greatly  ornamented  ;  tower  lofty,  the 
inside  contains  many  funereal  monuments,  some  of  ancient  date. 

Here  is  a  noted  school,  called  Blandell's,  famous  in  the  west ; 
sends  off  yearly  some  students  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge;  its  num 
bers  about  fourscore.  Besides  here  is  an  academy  for  dissenters' 
children,  kept  by  a  Mr.  Kiddle,  the  minister,  and  one  for  young 
ladies.  Has  abundance  of  shops.  Adjoining  the  church  is  a  lofty 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS,  189 

situation,  commanding  an  extensive  and  pleasing  view  of  the  neigh 
boring  vale,  through  which  the  Exe  runs,  bounded  by  a  long 
range  of  moderately  high  hills  improved  and  inclosed  to  summit  5 
returned  home  by  eight  o'clock. 

May  9.  Rode  with  Mr.  Cross  to  Star  Cross,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Exe,  opposite  Exmouth. 

May  1 1.  Removed  my  lodgings  to  Sidmouth,  and  for  which 
purpose  I  mounted  my  Rosinante,  and  departed  in  company  with 
Mr.  Smith,  after  dinner,  having  ordered  the  messenger  on  with  my 
baggage.  Taking  the  road  through  Topsham,  we  staged  it  at 
Ebford,  the  seat  of  the  widow  Lee,  a  wealthy,  hospitable,  dissent 
ing  lady  ;  here  we  alighted  and  took  tea.  The  family  having  with 
drawn  to  the  house  in  the  neighborhood,  called  the  "  Hermitage," 
to  divert  themselves  at  a  game  of  quadrille,  that  our  coming  inter 
rupted,  notwithstanding  repeated  desires  to  the  contrary.  The 
family  consists  of  an  elderly  lady,  daughter  and  her  husband,  a  Mr. 
Yates  and  young  parson  Jarvis,  the  dissenting  ministers  of  Lime 
stone.  From  thence  we  departed,  passing  through  Woodbury,  Ot- 
terton,  and  across  Peak  hill,  and  arrived  at  my  former  lodgings  at 
Robert  Toilet's. 

Sidmouth,  May  13.  Rode  to  Wishcombe  in  company  with 
William  Carsluck  and  two  young  ladies  named  Upjohn  of  Exeter; 
dined,  drank  tea,  and  returned  before  eight  o'clock. 

May  21.  Rode  to  Taunton  ;  passing  through  Honiton  and 
Blackdown,  I  arrived  at  Whiteheart,  visited  Mr.  Welman  and 
Parson  Ward ;  drank  tea  with  the  latter.  Evening  and  supper 
at  Mr.  Toulmin's,  the  Baptist  minister  j  lodged  at  the  inn.  Next 
morning  departed  for  Poundisford,  the  seat  of  a  Mr.  Hawker,  a 
dissenting  worthy  gentleman  of  fortune ;  passed  an  agreeable  day, 
and  lodged  there. 

Poundisford,  May  23.  At  eleven  o'clock,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Hawker  we  departed,  shaping  our  course  for  Chard,  where 
we  arrived  at  two  o'clock.  Between  our  two  stages,  on  a  lofty 
ridge,  are  the  remains  of  an  old  castle,  in  the  country  dialect 
Laratch;  supposed,  but  I  know  not  for  what  reason,  to  have  been 
of  Roman  construction.  Chard,  where  we  arrived  about  two 
o'clock,  is  a  manufacturing  town  ;  its  lifeless  appearance  but  too 
justly  confirms  the  general  opinion  that  its  trade  is  in  a  consumptive 


190  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

state ;  its  buildings  hardly  above  the  village  style,  one  wide  com 
modious  street,  paved,  having  several  reputable  houses  in  it.  One 
Episcopal  church,  and  two  or  three  dissenting  meeting-houses  ;  the 
manufacturing  towns  generally  abound  in  people  of  the  latter  per 
suasion.  At  five  o'clock  left,  and  passing  over  an  excellent  turnpike 
road,  entered  Axminster,  distant  seven  miles,  without  alighting, 
and  proceeded  on  to  Seaton,  where  we  in  vain  attempted  to  find  the 
remains,  if  any,  of  the  old  Roman  port  said  to  have  been  estab 
lished  here,  but  it  was  hie  labor,  hoc  opus.  Turning  our  backs  to 
the  English  channel,  we  proceeded  to  Mr.  Slade's  at  Colyton, 
here  taking  up  our  rest  for  two  nights ,  the  doctor  supplying  this 
pulpit  in  exchange  with  Mr.  Cornish,  the  minister,  who  did  his 
duty  at  Sidmouth. 

Colyton,  May  24.  Entertained  by  the  conversation  of  Mr. 
Slade's  youngest  daughter,  excelling  the  common  standard  in  point 
of  understanding,  knowledge,  and  good  breeding.  Took  a  field 
walk  with  all  the  family,  and  to  the  top  of  a  hill  commanding  a 
view  of  a  finely  improved  country  all  around,  including  the  whole 
vale  from  the  mouth  of  the  Axe  to  Axminster. 

May  25.  We  set  off  at  meridian,  proceeding  to  Baldash,  the 
seat  of  a  Mr.  Hook,  where  we  abode  till  I  had  bargained  for  a 
horse  to  be  sent  me  at  an  agreed  time ;  from  hence  departed  for 
Wishcombe ;  dined  and  passed  the  evening  at  cards  with  Mr.  John 
Carsluck,  his  sister  Miss  C.,  and  a  Miss  Snell,  very  agreeably ; 
pressed  to  lodge,  but  Mr.  Smith  withstood  their  entreaties,  and 
carried  me  off  reluctantly  enough  at  nine  o'clock. 

May  28.  Walked  on  the  beach  and  up  Salcomb  hill  with 
Messrs.  Erving  and  Smith;  an  extensive  prospect  from  Portland 
to  the  Start ;  within  these  two  headlands  fifteen  leagues  ;  the  bay 
is  called  Carnarvon. 

TO  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL,  BRISTOL. 

Sidmouth,  May  31,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  favors  of  the  1st  ult.  and  8th  inst.  were  delivered  to  me 
yesterday  afternoon,  by  the  hands  of  a  fair  young  lady  in  the  alcove 
on  the  beach,  in  this  place,  being  the  second  day  of  my  removal 
hither  from  Exeter,  which  makes  since  my  arrival  in  England  just 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  191 

the  number  of  mother  Rowlandson's  "  removes."  Having  taken 
minutes  of  them,  I  fancy  they  cannot  fail  under  the  correct  hand  of 
a  judicious  friend  to  form  a  sensible  appendix  in  the  next  edition  of 
that  curious  performance,  unless  you  prefer  the  following  title  : — 
"  The  perils  and  peregrinations  of  a  tory  or  refugee,  in  quest  of 
civil  liberty,  which  the  author  fondly  imagined  was  to  be  enjoyed 
in  higher  perfection  in  the  land  he  travelled  through,  than  in  that 
he  precipitately  abandoned,  without  money  to  support,  friends  to 
advise,  or  wisdom  to  guide  him." 

Having  made  a  short  ramble  the  other  day  to  Taunton  and  its 
neighborhood,  it  came  into  my  mind  to  point  out  to  you  the  most 
agreeable  route,  should  you  continue  of  the  mind  to  take  a  journey 
to  these  parts  during  the  bathing  season.  As  you  will  doubtless 
prefer  a  post-chaise,  you  may  command  your  own  time,  and  choose 
your  road ;  in  this  case  you  wall  find  the  Wells  road  as  pleasant  as 
any.  On  your  arrival  there,  you  will  not  fail  to  take  a  view  of  the 
cathedral,  which  presents  perhaps  as  fine,  if  not  the  finest  front  of 
any  old  Gothic  church  in  England.  Within,  it  is  renowned  that  I 
know  of,  for  nothing;  its  size  is  one  of  the  smallest,  and  its  bishop's 
palace  one  of  the  largest,  and  has  the  appearance  from  the  moat 
and  battlements  to  have  been  the  residence  rather  of  a  warlike 
baron,  than  of  a  peaceable  minister  of  religion.  From  hence,  at 
about  four  miles  distant,  is  a  natural  cavern  in  the  Mendip  hills, 
called  Okey  or  Wolkey  Hole ;  it  is  well  worth  visiting,  and  is  of 
the  same  kind,  although  not  so  deep,  as  that  of  the  Peak  of  Derby. 
From  hence  to  Bridgewrater,  the  famous  Glastonbury  monastery  lies 
right  on  your  road,  where  you  will  probably  stop  at  the  inn.  Your 
curiosity  when  there  cannot  fail  of  being  highly  gratified  by  a  view 
of  its  remains,  of  which  it  is,  however,  almost  pillaged.  Between 
this  last  place  and  Bridgewater,  the  turnpike  is  delightful,  and  if 
your  driver  should  be  as  complaisant  as  mine,  he  will  run  you  a 
distance  of  fifteen  miles  in  an  hour  and  a  half.  In  this  stage  you 
will  pass  over  a  ridge  dividing  the  great  Somerset  moor,  extending 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye,  and  filled  with  innumerable  herds  of 
black  cattle,  from  that  called  King's  Sedgemore,  lying  on  the  left, 
celebrated  you  know  in  history  for  the  defeat  of  the  unfortunate 
Duke  of  Monmouth,  in  1685.  Far  beyond,  on  that  side,  is  seen 
the  obelisk  raised  by  the  late  Lord  Chatham  to  the  memory  of  his 


192  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [  1778. 

benefactor,  Sir  William  Pynsent.  From  Bridgewater,  at  four  or 
five  miles  distant,  lying  two  miles  out  of  the  road  to  Taunton,  lies 
Enmore  Castle,  a  seat  of  Lord  Egmont,  built  on  the  plan  and  in 
the  style  of  the  old  baronial  castles. 

Your  next  stage  is  the  pretty  town  of  Taunton,  situated  in  a 
vale  or  bottom  called  Taunton-Deanvale,  remarkable  for  length, 
breadth,  and  fertility ;  of  the  former  thirty  miles,  second  ten  or 
twelve,  and  for  the  latter  exceeded  by  none.  In  this  stands  the 
tower  of  its  principal  church,  called  Mary  Magdalen,  which  will  at 
tract  your  attention,  being  more  crowded  with  Gothic  decorations 
than  any  edifice  of  that  size  that  has  fallen  under  your  view. 

Should  you  think  it  proper  to  take  the  road  over  Blackdown, 
and  so  through  Honiton,  rather  than  through  Wellington  and  Col- 
lumpton  road,  you  will  on  the  ascent  of  Blackdon  hill,  about 
five  miles  this  side  of  Taunton,  before  you  have  reached  the  sum 
mit,  on  a  retrospection  of  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  vale, 
see  cultivation  in  its  highest  state  of  improvement,  and  a  luxuri- 
ancy,  verdure  and  fruitage,  no  other  region  can  boast  of.  You  will, 
I  doubt  not,  join  with  me  in  saying  so  pleasing  a  rural  view  is  not 
to  be  seen  but  from  this  spot.  From  Taunton  to  Honiton  is  seven 
teen  miles,  and  from  thence  to  this  place  is  nine,  or  to  Exeter  six 
teen.  You  will,  T  know,  take  this  intimation  in  good  part. 
Very  affectionately  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  1.  Dr.  Price,  in  his  fast  sermon  on  Feb.  10,  speaking  of 
the  dependence  of  a  nation's  safety  on  righteous  men,  has  the  follow 
ing  :  "  There  is  a  distant  country,  once  united  to  this,  where  every 
inhabitant  has  in  his  house,  as  a  part  of  his  furniture,  a  book  on 
law  and  government,  to  enable  him  to  understand  his  colonial 
rights  ;  a  musket  to  enable  him  to  defend  those  rights  ;  and  a  Bible 
to  understand  and  practise  religion.  What  can  hurt  such  a  coun 
try  ?  Is  it  any  wonder  we  have  not  succeeded  ?  How  secure 
must  it  be  while  it  preserves  its  virtue  against  all  attacks." 

June  12.  Between  five  and  six  o'clock  rode  with  my  two  fel 
low  boarders  to  Ottery  beacon,  commanding  a  prospect  of  Ottery 
vale  as  far  as  Sir  George  Young's  seat,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Honiton.  Conlinued  ride  over  the  ridge  till  Honiton  appeared  in 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  193 

view ;  returned  in  a  mist  through  Sidbury,  Sidford,  etc.,  and  in  a 
moist  plight  at  eight  o'clock  dismounted. 

June  13.  A  large  fleet  appeared  in  the  offing;  near  thirty 
capital  ships,  judged  to  be  Keppel's.  Invited  by  Mr.  Skaddon  to 
a  sight  of  the  cane  King  Charles  I.  had  in  his  hand  at  his  trial, 
from  whence  the  gold  head  dropped  off  in  court ;  interpreted  by 
the  credulous  as  an  ill  omen. — It  is  a  beautiful  stick,  and  finely 
shaded,  and  I  suppose  as  much  revered  by  his  infatuated  admirers,  as 
Aaron's  rod  that  budded  was  by  the  devout  Israelites.  He  also 
possesses  the  Duke  of  Northumberland's  golden  key  as  Lord  Cham 
berlain,  which,  when  he  acts  in  that  capacity,  is  fastened  to  his 
pocket  flaps.  Also  King  Charles  IL's  cabinet,  and  some  fine  old 
royal  porcelain,  as  precious  relics  of  infinite  value. 

June  15.  An  early  ride  to  Peak  hill;  a  distant  sight  of 
Portland  and  about  Abbotsbury. 

June  22.  Rode  with  Mr.  Ogburn  to  Woodbury  Castle,  so  called,, 
the  remains  of  a  Danish  fort,  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  lofty  range 
of  hills ;  the  ramparts  of  earth  and  ditches  still  remain.  The  place 
of  arms  contains  about  five  acres :  on  the  highest  point  is  a  house 
built  for  hunting  parties,  etc.,  the  roof  projects  in  front,  supported 
by  four  pillars  in  rustic  order,  the  bark  remaining  unstripped. 
From  hence  to  Exmouth  to  dinner ;  a  famous  bathing  town ;  nearly 
four  hundred  strangers  have  been  here  at  a  time.  More  handsome 
houses  than  Sidmouth  ;  returned  home  before  eight  o'clock. 

June  24.  This  day  my  friend  Mr.  Isaac  Smith  was  ordained 
to  the  pastoral  office  over  the  little  congregation  of  dissenters  here. 
A  minister  of  the  Episcopal  church,  whose  curiosity  prompted  him 
to  attend,  continued  through  the  whole  service,  expressed  great 
delight  at,  and  approbation  of  the  performances,  and  a  high  opin 
ion  of  the  solemnity  and  propriety  of  the  whole.  Pity  that  the 
narrowness  of  party  keeps  asunder  and  divides  in  affection  men  en 
gaged  in  the  same  worthy  design,  and  servants  of  the  same  kind 
and  benevolent  master,  whose  chief  command  is  mutual  love  and 
good-will. 

June  28.  Mr.  Berguyn,  a  North  Carolina  gentleman,  called  on 
his  way  to  Falmouth  to  take  passage  in  a  packet  for  America ; 
encouraged  by  their  assembly  having  voted  to  admit  all  refugees 
who  apply. 

25 


194  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1778. 

June  30.     Admiral   Keppel's  fleet  has  taken  three  French 
frigates. 


TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  CARDIFF,  SOUTH  WALES. 

Sidmouth,  June  30,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  hope  this  will  not  be  as  long  on  the  road  as  your  favor  of  the 
12th  of  May,  that  came  to  hand  only  a  month  after  date.  I  de 
layed  an  answer  that  I  might  be  more  explicit  to  your  question 
about  the  houses  I  mentioned  to  you ;  they  are  not  furnished,  but 
furniture  is  to  be  obtained  at  fifteen  per  cent.,  beds  and  such  arti 
cles  at  twelve.  This  I  have  from  Col.  Erving,  who  is  now  at  Ex 
eter,  but  does  not  propose  to  abide  there  longer  than  the  25th  of 
September,  when  his  lease  will  expire.  Where  to  retreat  he  seems 
undetermined  ;  he  wishes  to  reside  among  people  hospitable,  social, 
unceremonious  and  not  dressy  ;  if  such  can  be  found.  He  requests 
you  to  inform  him  through  me,  whether  you  have  received  any 
information  respecting  Abergavenny  in  Monmouth.  Is  it  pleasant, 
and  has  it  a  plentiful  and  cheap  market  ?  Are  furnished  houses  to 
be  had  cheap  ?  Are  the  people  hospitable,  social,  and  disposed  to 
form  an  unceremonious  acquaintance,  and  are  they  expensive  in 
dress  and  dinners  ?  The  same  is  requested  respecting  Cowbridge 
and  Cardiff.  Do  you  intend  remaining  at  your  present  abode  for  a 
long  time,  and  who  is  with  you  in  your  neighborhood,  and  do  they 
propose  to  remain  ? 

My  present  companions  are  Dr.  Smith,  just  ordained  over  his 
little  flock  here,  and  our  countryman  Mr.  Ogburn,  in  the  same 
house ;  to  which  number  I  expect  in  ten  days  will  be  added  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Sewall  from  Bristol.  This  place  is  a  watering  place,  re 
sorted  to  by  the  neighboring  gentry.  Having  bought  a  pony,  I 
make  frequent  excursions  into  the  country  hereabouts,  passing  my 
time  as  agreeably  as  the  untoward  circumstances  of  my  affairs  al 
low.  Should  I  not  be  happy  enough  to  enlarge  my  party,  I  in 
tend  to  make  a  ten  days'  ramble  through  Cornwall  with  my  friend 
Dr.  Smith,  who  has  become  an  inhabitant,  and  may  continue  to  be 
for  some  years. 

Should  that  report  induce  Mr.  Erving's  retreating  to  your 


1778.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  195 

quarters,  and  you  continue  where  you  are,  I  may  pass  a  month 
\vith  you  before  winter. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  1.  With  Messrs.  Smith  and  Ogburn  rode  to  Honiton, 
to  see  the  annual  procession  of  lace-makers;  alighted  at  the 
Golden  Lion,  and  was  soon  called  over  and  invited  to  dine  at  a 
Mrs.  Youat's,  whose  daughter  is  presidentess  of  this  society,  in  num 
ber  exceeding  a  hundred.  They  have  an  afternoon  sermon,  and 
afterwards  walk  in  procession,  in  the  following  order  : — the  presi 
dentess  with  a  wand  adorned  with  flowers;  then  four  maidens, 
eight  years  old,  with  each  a  basket  of  flowers  and  large  boquets, 
walking  between  two  arches  adorned  with  flowers;  then  follow 
the  patronesses,  each  with  a  white  wand  ;  then  the  standard-bearer, 
followed  by  two  dozen  couple,  with  a  standard-bearer  attending 
them.  In  this  order  they  paraded  through  the  principal  streets, 
and  then  adjourned  to  the  Golden  Lion  inn  to  take  tea  and  pass 
the  evening  in  dancing  and  festivity.  To  this  we  were  invited,  but 
my  occasions  calling  me  to  Exeter,  and  a  want  of  relish  for  such 
mirth,  concurred  to  send  me  off  the  ground  before  the  street  parade 
was  over,  leaving  my  companions  to  return  home  by  moonlight. 
Lodged  at  the  "  Valiant  Soldier,"  Exeter. 

Sidmouth,  July  8.  Rode  to  Hull-down  to  see  the  Exeter  races. 
The  cup  with  two  hundred  guineas  won  by  Mr.  Wildman's  horse 
Lubin;  sport  indifferent.  The  dust  and  heat  were  insufferable, 
the  numbers  present  supposed  to  be  ten  thousand. 

July  10.  Judge  Sewall  visited  us ;  in  the  afternoon  walked 
with  him  to  Peak  hill. 

July  14.  Received  a  letter  from  Peter  Frye,  Esq.,  without 
mention  of  time  or  place. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMMINS,  LONDON. 

Sidmouth,  July  12,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  should  be  glad  to  see  you  at  this  bathing  town  of  mud  walls 
and  thatched  roofs.  Judge  Sewall  and  lady,  Samuel  Sewall,  Mr. 
Smith,  and  Mr.  Ogburn  are  here ;  and  at  Exeter,  fourteen  miles 


196  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

off,  are  Col.  Erving's  family,  Col.  Vassall,  Mr.  Lechmere;  and  late 
Lieut.  Governor  Oliver  is  soon  to  be  there.  The  advices  from 
Boston  discover  a  disposition  I  could  scarce  expect  to  hear.  I 
presumed  in  this  flourishing  state  of  their  affairs,  none  durst  whisper 
a  doubt  of  the  omnipotency  of  the  Congress,  allied  as  they  are  to 
Prance.  Very  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  MR.  GEORGE  RUSSELL,  B'RMINGHAM. 

Sidmouth,  July  13,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Accept  my  warmest  thanks  for  your  kind  solicitude  about  my 
health,  which  is  but  in  an  ill  state ;  having  a  few  days  since  re- 
•ceived  a  shock  of  the  kind  which  confined  me  last  winter,  and 
nearly  translated  me  to  another,  or  rather  no  state  of  existence. 
Don't  let  this  expression  hurt  you  ;  I  mean  not  a  doubt  of  a  future 
state,  but  whether  the  soul  does  not  remain  inactive  during  its 
separation  from  the  body,  and  until  roused  by  the  last  trumpet  to 
life  and  activity,  is  a  doctrine  I  cannot  entirely  disprove ;  but  no 
more  of  principles.  My  mind  is  as  easy,  submissive  and  resigned, 
as  a  conviction  that  the  divine  conduct  is  right  can  make  it ;  to 
aid  which,  I  muster  up  all  my  religion  and  philosophy,  some 
times  with  success ;  sometimes  nature  oppressed  sinks  under  the 
burden. 

Having  proposed  in  my  answer  to  follow  the  order  of  your 
letter,  I  come  to  a  tender  point,  the  condition  of  the  amiable  and 
worthy  partner  of  your  soul,  for  whom  I  feel  more  than  a  common 
friend's  affection  and  regard ;  you  have  my  earnest  prayers  that 
her  life  may  be  continued  till  it  shall  cease  to  be  a  blessing ;  nor 
•can  our  fondest  wishes,  guided  by  reason,  extend  further.  The 
vicissitudes  daily  taking  place  should  be  daily  lessons  to  teach  us 
the  vanity  of  too  fondly  expecting  felicity  from  flattering,  transitory 
circumstances  here  below.  Should  it  please  the  sovereign  disposer 
of  life  to  deprive  you  of  your  dearest  friend,  may  you  experience 
all  the  advantages  that  religion  and  true  philosophy  afford ;  as  I 
-doubt  not  you  view  the  evils  of  life  with  too  religious  an  eye  not 
to  consider  every  event,  however  irksome  at  present,  as  capable  of 
yielding  the  most  solid,  pure,  and  lasting  comfort  in  the  final  issue. 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  197 

This  day  I  received  a  letter  from  an  old  friend,  now  in  banishment 
with  his  wife  and  children  at  Halifax,  conceived  in  the  common 
plaintive  strain  with  all  letters  from  that  quarter ;  complaining  of 
the  spiritless  measures  of  administration  and  their  military  servants. 
In  truth,  vigor  and  activity  seem  not  the  characteristic  of  this 
nation  at  this  period  ;  the  continued  series  of  untoward  events  on 
the  side  of  Great  Britain,  in  this  unnatural  contest  between  her 
and  the  colonies,  has,  I  fear,  given  the  coup  de  grace  to  her  glory. 
The  sun  of  Britain  is  past  the  meridian  and  declining  fast  to  the 
west,  and  America  is  for  ever  emancipated  from  the  legislative 
authority  of  this  once  potent  empire  ;  alas  !  no  more  so.  The  pro 
phetic  falling  off  of  the  best  jewel  from  our  king's  crown  when  on 
his  head  at  coronation,  is  now  accomplished  by  the  loss  of  America, 
which  I  consider  irrevocably  gone ;  whether  to  their  advantage, 
is  a  point,  I  fancy,  the  Congress  and  I  should  not  join  issue  in  : — 
the  burden  of  supporting  an  independency  with  dignity  is  too  heavy 
for  America  to  bear,  especially  the  northern  colonies,  unless  the 
patriots  there  will  discharge  the  troublesome  public  trusts  and 
offices  without  pecuniary  emoluments ;  requiring  a  much  greater 
degree  of  virtue,  self-denial,  and  public  spirit,  than  I  think  now 
does  or  indeed  ever  did  exist  there,  unless  in  profession. 

I  fancy  by  this  time  I  have  tired  my  friend  in  reading,  as  I 
confess  I  have  myself  in  writing,  and  conclude  by  wishing  he  may 
live  long,  and  see  many  prosperous  days. 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  15.  Went  off  with  Mr.  Withers  in  his  phaeton,  accom 
panied  by  Messrs.  Smith,  Jarvis  and  Meservale,  to  Beer ;  dined  at 
King's  Head ;  afternoon,  were  rowed  a  league  out,  and  remained 
out  two  hours. 


198  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Sidmouth,  July  17.  Set  off  alone  on  an  excursion  to  the  west ; 
at  nine  o'clock  passing  over  Peak  hill,  through  Otterton,  and  over 
Welbry  common  ;  my  first  stage  at  Mr.  Withers',  Lympston,  inten 
tionally  to  persuade  him  to  accompany  me  toTeignmouth,  agreeably 
to  a  vague  promise  from  him  the  preceding  day.  He  was  gone  to 
Exeter.  I  then  proceeded  through  Star  Cross  and  Dawlish  Sands ; 
on  the  other  side  of  the  beach  is  an  extensive  sea  and  land  view ; 
from  hence  is  about  four  miles  to  Teignmouth,  where  arrived  at 
six  o'clock  at  Globe  inn,  facing  the  sands  and  beach.  This  is  a 
bathing  town,  and  resorted  to  by  more,  and  company  of  higher  rank 
than  Sidmouth  can  boast.  It  is  irregularly  built,  but  the  houses 
more  in  number  and  of  incomparably  better  appearance.  The 
beach  for  bathing  lies  at  some  distance  from  the  town.  Lodged 
here. 

July  18.  Rose  early,  took  the  road  to  Newton  Bushel,  distant 
six  miles,  through  Bishop  Stanton,  passing  also  through  King's 
Stanton.  Newton  has  three  hundred  houses,  decently  built ;  shops 
of  almost  every  kind  of  goods,  streets  paved,  two  Episcopal  and 
one  Presbyterian  church.  Breakfasted  and  soon  set  off,  passing  at 
half  a  mile  distant  an  old  fashioned  seat  called  Ford,  belonging  to 
Lord  Courtenay,  in  whose  manor  this  town  lies.  From  hence  to 
Dartmouth,  lying  sixteen  miles  distant ;  the  land  in  the  approaches 
thereto  hilly  and  uneven,  but  all  improved ;  at  three  alighted  at 
a  Mrs.  Quick's,  in  a  place  called  Kingsware ;  this  is  a  cluster  of 
houses  on  the  hither  side  of  the  river  Dart,  where  the  harbor  pilots 
dwell,  and  has  an  Episcopal  church.  Ferried  over  much  the 
width  of  Charlestown  ferry,  about  half  a  mile  within  the  extreme 
points  of  the  harbor. 

Dartmouth,  July  20.  At  twelve  A.  M.  departed  for  Torbay, 
five  miles  distant ;  an  ugly  town,  houses  lo\v,  and  for  the  greater 
part  slovenly  in  appearance  ;  among  them,  however,  a  few  decent 
ones.  The  lower  point  adjoining  the  quay  occupied  by  those  who 


1778.]  JOURNAL    AND     LETTERS.  199 

depend  on  the  hook  and  line ;  here  being  no  fewer  than  fourscore 
boats  daily  employed  in  that  service,  all  with  a  mast  and  sail,  and 
four  to  two  tons  burthen.  They  supply  Exeter,  Bath,  Bristol,  etc., 
quite  across  the  country  nearly  a  hundred  miles  north  from  them. 
Dined  at  George  inn,  and  took  leave  of  Brixholm.  Thence  to 
Barry  Pomeroy,  an  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  the  house  large, 
but  avenues  in  a  neglected  state  ;  magnificent  edifices  and  expan 
sive  pleasure  grounds  seem  not  to  be  this  duke's  taste,  or  a  scanty 
purse  restrains  it.  Hence  to  Bridgtown,  contained  in  the  parish  of 
Barry  Pomeroy  and  part  of  the  manor  of  the  same  name,  within 
which  I  was  told  Totness  stands.  The  duke  derives  from  his 
estate  here  two  thousand  pounds  yearly.  Totness  is  a  corporation 
and  a  parliamentary  borough ;  is  remarkable  for  the  singularity  of 
its  address  to  the  first  George  of  the  Brunswick  line  at  his  accession 
to  the  throne  of  these  kingdoms  ;  after  the  usual  flattery,  such  as  is 
always  paid  to  a  new  race  of  princes,  they  offered  his  majesty 
sixteen  shillings  in  the  pound  of  their  estates,  and  the  other  four  if 
he  should  want  it,  as  a  proof  of  their  loyalty. 

July  21.  Arose  at  seven  o'clock,  mounted  my  horse,  rode  to 
Newton,  before  mentioned ;  stopped  there  for  a  night. 

July  22.  After  breakfast  departed  for  Chudleigh,  but  missing 
the  road,  passed  over  Hull-down,  leading  to  Dawlish,  and  arrived 
at  one  o'clock  at  Exeter ;  Mr.  Erving  happening  in  sight,  urged 
my  driving  with  him. 

Exeter,  July  24.  After  visiting  my  old  acquaintances,  returned 
to  Sidmourh  by  eight  o'clock,  evening. 

Sidmouth,  July  26.  Met  Mr.  George  Eveleigh,  a  gentleman  of 
South  Carolina,  educated  both  at  school  and  college  at  Cambridge, 
New  England,  whom  I  remember  a  school-boy  when  I  was  in  col 
lege  ;  now  the  father  of  five  grown  up  children. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMM1NS,  LONDON. 

Sidmouth,.July  28,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Please  let  me  know  whether  you  have  received  any  late  ad 
vices  from  Boston  or  New  England,  by  which  you  are  informed  of 
the  situation  of  the  country,  respecting  its  political,  civil,  or  religious 
condition  ;  the  temper  and  disposition  of  its  inhabitants  respecting 


200  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1778. 

those  who  have  left  the  country ;  their  inclinations  or  ability  to 
continue  the  war.  Would  that  the  execrable  spirit  of  persecution 
might  abate,  they  be  restored  to  reason,  and  I  to  my  native  coun 
try  ;  an  event  I  ardently  long  for  :  indeed,  I  sometimes  feel  resolu 
tion  enough  to  attempt  to  go  and  throw  myself  on  the  mercy  of 
those  whom  party  rage  has  rendered  almost  insensible  to  the  ten 
der  feelings  of  humanity  ;  but  fear,  and  a  settled  aversion  to  their 
levelling  principles  and  persecuting  practices,  disarms  me. 

With  truth,  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

August  16.  News  received  that  Congress  has  rejected  any 
treaty  with  the  British  commissioners ;  as  might  easily  have  been, 
and  was,  I  believe,  fully  imagined  by  all  the  world  would  be  the 
case  at  this  late  period,  without  an  express  specific  acknowledg 
ment  of  their  independency. 

Axmmster,  August  18.  Walked  to  beach;  seven  bathing 
machines  standing  there,  dragged  into  the  water  by  a  horse  each. 
The  alcove  and  ball  room  larger  and  more  respectable  than  at  Sid- 
mouth. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMMINS,  LONDON. 

Sidmouth,  August  31,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  dangerous,  distrustful  situation  the  nation  is  in,  makes  me 
tremble  for  the  next  news  from  abroad,  lest  it  shake  the  government 
to  its  centre.  In  the  annals  of  this  country,  I  know  of  no  period  in 
which  England  stood  on  a  narrower  point ;  not  in  1688,  nor  even 
when  the  Scotch  rebels  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Derby,  in  1745. 
The  designs  of  Providence  are  inscrutable,  not  to  be  controlled  by 
human  policy,  nor  defeated  by  human  strength. 

Although  I  have,  all  along,  doubted  that  Congress  would  ac 
cept  terms  short  of  independence,  I  confess  myself  not  a  little 
deranged  at  the  confirmation  of  it.  That  Congress  should  be  loth 
to  quit  their  authority,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  it  is  the  nature 
of  power  to  endeavor  to  preserve  itself;  but  I  cannot  help  flatter 
ing  myself  with  hopes  that  America  will  soon  see  her  interest  in  a 
different  point  of  light  from  Congress,  and  disappoint  the  ambitious 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  201 

views  of  men,  however  well  qualified  they  may  be  to  govern,  evi 
dently  disposed  to  sacrifice  that  country's  happiness  to  their  lust  of 
power.  God  only  knows  what  will  be  the  issue  of  the  troubles ; 
may  it  please  him  to  save  her  from  ruin,  and  accomplish  a  happy 
re-union  with  this,  and  on  a  lasting  basis. 

Your  assured  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Sept.  11.  Keppel's  and  Byron's  fleets  are  sources  of  incredible 
reports  from  street  and  tavern  politicians ;  should  both  these  sea 
commanders  be  defeated,  none  knows  the  consequences — fatal  ones 
may  be  justly  apprehended;  this  country  was  never  in  a  more 
perilous  situation. 

Sept.  21.  The  day  of  our  half-yearly  fair;  great  numbers 
came  in,  passing  on  the  beach  to  view  the  sea,  going  off  in  boats,, 
eating,  drinking  and  buying,  in  the  sheds  and  booths  erected  on  the 
lower  parts  of  the  streets,  and  filled  with  confectionary,  toys,  hard 
ware,  ribbons,  etc.  Rode  to  Exeter  in  the  evening. 

Sept.  28.  Departed  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Smith, 
on  an  intended  ramble  to  Weymouth  and  Portland.  First  stage  to 
Colyton,  nine  miles,  where  we  dined.  Hence  to  Charmouth,  a 
straggling  town  that  extends  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  a  long 
hill,  and  contains  one  street  of  perhaps  a  hundred  houses ;  passing 
through,  we  arrived  at  a  villa,  two  miles  distant,  part  of  the  man 
or  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  a  Roman  Catholic  peer,  of  which  per 
suasion  most  of  the  inhabitants  on  his  lordship's  estate  here  are. 
The  next  cluster  of  houses  on  the  road  was  Morkam's  lake,  which 
with  the  former  scarce  make  up  a  hundred  houses.  Our  next  and 
last  stage  for  this  day  Bridport,  at  the  Bull  inn,  where  we  supped 
and  lodged. 

Sept.  29.  Left  for  Abbotsbury,  ten  miles  distant ;  the  land 
along  the  sea-shore  a  desert,  not  so  much  as  a  tree,  shrub  or  bush 
was  to  be  seen.  Passed  through  Weymouth  to  Melcomb  Regis, 
over  bridge  laid  across  the  Wey,  so  called,  being  a  small  arm  of  the 
sea,  dividing  these  two  towns.  The  latter  lying  on  the  land  side,  is 
a  neck  formed  by  the  bend,  almost  at  right  angles  with  the  river 
Wey,  and  is  the  place  whereon  the  beach  lies  and  visitors  reside. 
The  market  is  large  and  better  supplied  than  in  the  former.. 

26 


202  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

There  is  a  range  of  brick  buildings,  twelve  in  number,  tasty  and 
commodious,  facing  the  beach,  and  but  a  small  distance  above  it ; 
at  the  end  is  an  elegant  assembly-room,  and  at  a  small  distance 
are  shops  of  all  kinds  of  articles,  millinery,  toys,  etc.  Coffee-houses, 
circulating  libraries,  etc.  The  beach  is  furnished  with  twenty- 
two  machines  for  bathing,  in  finer  taste  than  any  I  have  seen.  This 
town,  like  Weymouth,  is  concerned  in  shipping ;  its  quay  is  long 
enough  for  sixty  vessels ;  not  half  that  number  then  in  port.  It 
has  two  Episcopal  churches  and  a  Presbyterian  meeting-house. 
Weymouth  is  on  the  outer  or  south  side  of  the  river,  consisting 
principally  of  one  street,  well  paved,  but  narrow.  In  front  of  the 
town  is  a  quay,  facing  Melcomb,  filled  with  vessels.  After  dining, 
we  sallied  forth ;  finding  nothing  further  to  entertain  us,  soon  re 
turned,  and  ordering  forth  our  horses,  took  our  departure  towards 
Portland,  the  last  stage.  The  passage  to  it  is  over  a  water  called 
the  Fleet,  between  a  beach  seven  miles  in  length  and  the  main 
land  ;  by  this  beach  Portland  is  joined  to  the  main,  but  the  way 
is  scarce  ever  attempted,  consisting  of  small  loose  stones  or  deep 
sand,  so  that  a  horse  would  sink  down  half-leg  deep ;  this  approach, 
therefore,  must  be  too  tedious  to  be  used.  The  road  from  Mel- 
comb  to  the  island  or  peninsula  is  over  a  lofty  plain  of  a  mile  in 
length ;  from  hence  is  a  hard  gravel  beach  of  over  a  mile :  and 
opposite  the  road  stands  an  edifice  in  ruins,  styled  a  castle,  having 
however  more  the  look  of  a  mansion  house  deserted  by  its  own 
er,  its  solitary  black  site  rendering  it  an  uncomfortable  residence. 
We  soon  measured  the  beach,  and  were  wafted  over  the  Fleet 
by  a  rope-ferry,  as  it  is  called  in  New  England  dialect.  But  the 
beach  on  the  Portland  side,  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  required  a  more 
leisurely  pace.  The  first  village  on  the  island  of  Portland  is  called 
Chesilton,  of  about  a  hundred  houses  of  reputable  aspect ; — situation 
low,  on  the  plain  of  a  beach ;  from  hence,  being  an  easy  ascent  of 
half  a  mile,  we  came  to  two  villages. 

In  the  morning  (30th),  climbed  up  the  lofty  plain  to  the  spot  the 
flag-staff  is  erected  on,  being  the  northernmost  summit,  having  the 
castle  situate  at  the  northern  exetremity,  from  which  may  be  seen 
at  one  view  as  far  into  the  English  channel  as  eye  can  reach ;  to 
Isle  of  Wight  in  the  east,  and  to  the  north  a  vast  extent  of  country. 
Portland  island  is  about  five  miles  in  length,  breadth  two;  on  the  land 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  203 

side  it  is  defended  by  a  castle  before  mentioned.  On  the  southern 
cliffs  are  two  light-houses.  Mounted  our  horses,  and  in  our  course  lay, 
in  the  middle  road,  the  first  village,  called  Reffon,  which  contains 
the  only  church  on  the  island,  encompassed  by  stone  wall,  inclosing 
an  acre  of  yard.  Passed  through  Iskwell,  Wikeham,  Eison,  Wes- 
ton,  and  returned  to  the  rope-ferry  by  which  we  came  to  the  island, 
and  at  one  o'clock  arrived  at  Crown  inn,  Melcomb.  Thence  through 
Upway,  situated  in  a  fertile  vale,  abounding  in  trees  and  hedges.  The 
next  village,  lying  a  little  out  of  our  way,  is  Winterborne  Monkton  ; 
the  latter  epithet  I  suppose  denotes  for  what  it  was  remarkable. 
Through  this  village  we  passed  to  Maiden  Castle,  a  famous  en 
campment  of  Roman  construction,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by 
them  soon  after  their  first  invasion.  In  their  times  Dorchester,  two 
miles  distant,  was  their  winter,  as  this  spot  was  their  summer  resi 
dence.  It  is  said  to  be  the  only  remains  of  the  kind  in  Great 
Britain — form  oval ;  contains  within  the  inner  intrenchment  many 
acres,  enough  to  hold  three  legions  or  eighteen  thousand  men.  The 
intrenchments  entire,  four  without  the  other  at  each  end  — two  on 
each  side  or  flank,  encompassing  the  whole — depth  thirty  feet.  It 
has  a  stupendous  appearance,  and  looks  like  a  work  of  a  people 
capable  of  any  undertaking,  however  difficult.  Thence  we  jogged 
on  to  Dorchester. 

Dorchester,  Oct.  1.  Rambled  over  the  town  :  here  are  assize 
and  session-house,  prison  and  bridewell ;  about  2500  inhabitants  ; 
houses  decent,  and  streets  paved.  Avenues  to  the  town  pleasant 
at  all  quarters,  being  lined  with  a  row  of  trees  on  each  side  for 
two  miles ;  from  hence  at  ten  o'clock  we  departed,  shaping  our 
course  towards  the  remains  of  Roman  antiquity,  the  occasion  of  our 
coming  hither ;  and  in  half  an  hour  arrived  at  the  amphitheatre, 
which  is  entirely  of  earth ;  the  forms  whereon  the  benches  were 
laid  for  spectators  are  yet  entire.  The  outer  line  an  oval,  the  earth 
thrown  up  in  the  manner  of  an  encampment,  and  about  twenty 
feet  high,  encompassing  the  whole;  the  area  or  space  wherein 
spectacles  were  exhibited,  measures  forty  or  fifty  yards  longest 
diameter ;  two  rows  of  benches,  judged  spacious  enough  to  hold 
two  thousand  spectators.  Having  satisfied  curiosity,  proceeded 
through  fields  for  the  castle,  lying  on  a  lofty  ridge  at  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  further.  Having  finished  our  survey,  and  amused  our- 


204  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

selves  with  fine  prospects,  we  ascended  by  another  quarter  to  the 
fields  and  inclosures  adjoining  hereto  j  crossing  which,  at  length 
reached  turnpike  at  a  village  called  Martinston,  from  hence  to 
Winterburn-Stepleton  and  Clenston  ;  here  we  met  the  great 
London  road  to  Plymouth  and  the  west ;  glad  once  again  to  salute 
it  and  forsake  the  cross-roads  that  are  but  indifferent  at  best,  and 
some  execrable  ;  in  this  we  kept  till  arrival  at  first  and  last  stage 
of  this  day,  alighting  in  about  two  hours  at  Bull  inn,  Bridport, 
distant  from  Dorchester  seventeen  miles.  The  business  for  which 
this  town  is  famed,  and  carried  on  to  great  extent,  is  in  sail-cloth 
and  white  cordage  ;  in  size  little  inferior  to  Dorset. 

Bridport,  Oct.  2.  To  Axminster,  Honiton,  and  Wishcombe, 
where  lodged. 

Oct.  3.  Alighted  at  Mrs.  Godfrey's,  my  new  lodging-house  in 
Sidmouth. 

Sidmouth,  Oct.  10.  Spirit  of  privateering  against  France  sur 
prisingly  raised ;  success  incredible  :  three  East  India  ships  home 
ward  bound  taken,  and  thirty-six  St.  Domingo  and  Martinico  ships, 
and  a  multitude  of  others. 

Oct.  26.  Accompanied  Mr.  Smith  to  Mr.  William  Lloyd's,  at 
Otterton,  a  substantial  farmer.  In  conversation  on  different  ranks 
of  mankind,  and  different  consequent  mode  of  living,  my  companion 
told  us  the  following  tale  from  an  Irish  lady.  A  young  country 
woman  of  hers  wished  she  might  be  queen  for  a  month,  for  then, 
said  she,  I  would  have  bacon  with  my  broth.  To  which  our  hostess 
added  one  of  the  like  kind :  a  young  lad  of  Cornwall  wished  he 
might  be  king,  for  then,  said  he,  I  would  ride  on  gates  and  eat  fat 
bacon  with  my  broth.  The  demands  of  nature  are  few  and  easily 
satisfied ;  it  is  education  and  use  that  increase  our  appetites  and 
render  them  troublesome. 

Oct.  27.  Evening  Mr.  Smith  visited  me.  Our  sentiments 
on  toleration  differ ;  he  holds  that  every  subject  in  a  state  has  an 
absolute  right  to  unlimited  toleration,  be  his  principles  what  they 
may.  I  think  no  man  should  be  persecuted  for  opinion's  sake,  yet 
he  has  no  right  to  complain  of  any  disabilities  he  may  be  under, 
whose  avowed  persuasion  is,  that  faith  is  not  to  be  kept  with  those 
whose  religious  tenets  differ  from  his  own,  whose  religion  absolves 
him  from  most  solemn  engagements,  nay,  who  thinks  himself  in  con- 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  205 

science  bound  to  violate  promises,  vows  and  oaths  ;  nay,  further, 
thinks  it  highly  meritorious  to  disturb  the  peace  and  overthrow  the 
very  government  he  has  sworn  to  support,  when  his  priest  directs 
and  opportunity  presents.  Opinions,  merely  such,  the  magistrate 
ought  by  no  means  to  concern  himself  with,  nor  be  subject  to  his 
control ;  and  therefore  every  peaceable  man  has  an  equal  claim  to 
his  protection  in  his  person  and  property. 

By  letters  from  Lord  Cornwallis  at  New-York,  it  appears  Count 
D'Estaing  had  been  obliged  hastily  to  retreat  with  his  squadron 
from  Rhode  Island  by  the  arrival  of  Lord  Howe,  with  twenty  line- 
of-battle  ships  and  twenty  frigates ;  that  a  severe  storm  parted 
the  fleets ;  that  the  Americans  by  a  bridge  of  boats  had  landed 
twelve  thousand  men  on  the  island,  and  that  General  Clinton  had 
strengthened  his  garrison  by  several  detachments  he  himself  had 
brought  from  New-York  ;  that  Gen.  Lee,  being  accused  of  cow 
ardice  and  bad  conduct,  was  suspended  by  a  court  martial. 

Oct.  28.  Lord  Howe  has  arrived  from  Rhode  Island  in  the 
Eagle.  Four  of  our  frigates  have  been  sunk  at  Rhode  Island,  when 
invested  by  D'Estaing  and  the  Provincials  ;  also  twenty-three  ships 
destroyed. 

The  Bostonians  are  said  to  be  out  of  humor  with  their  new 
friends  and  allies,  and  no  wonder ;  French  government,  laws, 
religion,  manners,  and  policy,  are  totally  alien  and  unnatural  to 
Americans,  and  will  sit  uneasy  till  custom  and  long  use  have  fa 
miliarized  them. 

Nov.  17.  Rode  to  Beer  with  Mr.  Smith  ;  visited  the  vicar  of 
Seaton  and  Beer,  a  character  truly  original ;  a  great  humorist  and 
punster,  not  unlike  Rev.  Mather  Byles  of  Boston  in  that  line.  He 
is  of  enormous  bulk,  confined  by  gout,  which  he  told  us  was  his 
third  attack,  resembling,  in  his  own  language,  a  furnace  heated 
seven  times  hotter  than  the  former  ;  compared  himself,  in  the  midst 
of  excruciating  pains,  to  his  holiness  seated  to  receive  adoration  in 
his  sanctified  chair  ;  treated  us  hospitably,  and  was  very  facetious. 

Nov.  23.  Took  my  leave  of  Sidmouth,  my  residence  for  ap 
proaching  winter  being  to  be  at  Exeter ;  passed  the  road  in  two 
hours  and  a  half,  and  sat  down  at  new  lodgings  in  Fore-street,  near 
East-gate. 

Exeter,  Nov.  26.     With  Mr.  Smith  road  to  Newton  Abbot  to 


206  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

visit  a  Capt.  Hendley,  returned  from  Newfoundland,  taken  by  Capt. 
Babson  and  carried  into  Boston,  where  and  at  Cape  Ann  he  resided 
six  weeks.  He  reports  that  the  country  is  in  a  distressed  condition, 
wanting  almost  every  comfort;  no  trade  but  privateering,  by  which 
some  have  been  raised  from  nothing  to  affluence  :  says  the  inhabi 
tants  are  embittered  against  the  French,  who  have  engrossed  all 
the  trade,  from  whom  they  do  not  in  return  receive  any  advantage 
of  labor  or  supplies,  but  their  own  goods  at  exorbitant  prices. 
Wretched  effects  of  civil  discord  !  How  deplorable  is  the  situation, 
how  wretched  the  prospects  of  that  once  happy  region,  which  se 
curity,  peace  and  plenty  have  of  late  abandoned. 

December  4.  Visited  my  venerable  and  reverend  friend,  Mr. 
Towgood ;  he  is  one  of  very  few  to  whose  respectful  and  undis- 
sembled  welcome  I  am  not  a  little  indebted  ;  to  whom  my  grateful 
acknowledgments  are  due.  The  river  Exe,  by  late  rains  swelled 
beyond  the  memory  of  forty  years,  has  caused  great  damage.  The 
two  islands  lying  within  the  banks  of  the  river  over  against  this 
city,  overflown;  on  them  are  tucks  for  drying  woollen  cloths 
that  are  dyed  and  pressed  in  the  city. 

December  16.  Attended  for  the  first  time  Arden's  course  of 
lectures  on  experimental  philosophy,  being  the  second  of  the  course, 
held  in  a  chamber  in  the  castle  ;  more  than  threescore  present,  and 
continued  two  hours  :  subject,  electricity. 

December  21.  Received  a  letter  from  Judge  Sewall,  full  as 
usual  of  humor  and  hopes. 

FROM  HON.  J.  SEWALL. 

Bristol,  December  18,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Till  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  favor  of  the  1st  inst, 
I  was  as  much  at  a  loss  from  what  part  of  this  or  any  other  globe 
I  should  hear  of  you,  as  I  was  with  respect  to  a  certain  com- 
mander-in-chief,  when,  to  use  the  words  of  a  friend  in  a  late  letter 
from  New- York,  "  after  having  proceeded  up  the  Delaware  within 
twenty  miles  of  Philadelphia,  his  place  of  destination,  when  a 
looker-on  would  say  they  must  (from  the  reason  and  nature  of 
things)  land  at  Wilmington,  instead  of  which  he  sees  them  tack  about 


1778.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  207 

— away  they  come — down  the  river  again — huzza — make  a  circle 
round  Asspeak,  up  Chesapeake,  and  after  travelling  in  the  heat  of 
the  season,  in  a  hell  of  a  climate,  over  a  monstrous  extent  of  coun 
try,  they  arrive  at  Philadelphia — ( the  army  in  high  spirits.' ' 
Don't  you  think  my  friend's  description  is  truly  Shandean  ?  How 
ever,  matters  I  hope  are  mending ;  the  account  you  give  me  from 
America,  seems  to  be  confirmed  from  all  quarters.  Judge  Howard 
is  lately  arrived  here  from  New-York ;  he  tells  me  that  a  number 
of  gentlemen  of  influence  and  property,  who  have  been  lying  on 
their  oars  to  see  which  way  the  game  would  finally  go,  as  I  sup 
pose,  have  lately  come  in,  among  whom  is  the  famous  Mr.  Smith, 
the  lawyer  ;*  that  they,  together  with  Mr.  Galloway,  are  unani 
mously  of  opinion,  that  from  the  unexpected  tyranny  of  the  Congress 
and  their  sub-devils,  the  almost  universal  poverty  and  distress  of 
the  people,  and  the  general  aversion  to  French  connections,  the 
quondam  union  of  the  thirteen  states  is  upon  the  point  of  dissolution, 
and  that  nothing  is  wanting  but  a  single  effort  to  crush  the  rebel 
lion,  root  and  branch.  Judge  Howard  says  he  heard  Smith  say, 
"  if  Great  Britain  don't  conquer  the  colonies,  it  can  only  be  because 
she  wont ;"  that  these  gentlemen  have  been  much  with  the  com 
missioners,  by  whom  they  have  been  greatly  attended  to.  With 
these  favorable  accounts  from  America,  I  can't  help  connecting 
the  union  that  appears  in  parliament,  respecting  the  grand  point, 
the  reduction  of  the  colonies  ;  for  though  the  opposition  to  ministry 
is  still  faintly  kept  up  for  form's  sake,  yet  the  language  is  so  differ 
ent  from  that  held  in  former  sessions,  that  I  can't  help  thinking  a 
sense  of  public  danger,  and  a  regard  to  national  interest  and  honor, 
begin  to  prevail  over  private  resentments.  From  all  these  appear 
ances,  I  augur  well ;  and  I  am  happy  in  finding  the  general  opinion 
among  my  friends  and  acquaintances  is,  that  the  prospect  of  a 
speedy  and  happy  suppression  of  the  rebellion  is  fairer  now  than  it 
ever  has  been.  Come,  my  dear  friend,  cheer  up ;  don't  think  of 
going  to  that  "  country  from  whose  bourne  no  traveller  returns," 
though  there  be  no  sin  or  sorrow,  before  you  have  seen  a  happy 
end  to  the  sorrows  and  sins  of  your  country.  It  will  be  such  glo- 

*  The  historian  of  New- York,  and   chief  justice  during  the  war  .    subse 
quently  of  Canada. 


208  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

rious  news  to  carry  with  you,  that  it  is  well  worth  waiting  patiently 
for  many  years ;  but  I  hope  you  will  have  it  in  one  year ;  and  then, 
I  doubt  not,  you  will  find  yourself  more  able  to  combat  the  unavoid 
able  evils  of  this  state  militant,  and  be  less  in  a  hurry  to  set  out  for 
that  unknown  country,  which  must  be  your  next  stage. 

The  situation  of  American  loyalists,  I  confess,  is  enough  to  have 
provoked  Job's  wife,  if  not  Job  himself;  but  still  we  must  be  men, 
philosophers,  and  Christians  ;  and  bearing  up  with  patience,  resig 
nation  and  fortitude,  against  unavoidable  sufferings,  is  our  duty  in 
each  of  these  characters. 

There,  sir,  is  a  Roland  for  your  Oliver,  in  the  serious  wray. 
My  friends  and  family  here  are  all  well,  and  wish  your  health  and 
happiness.  If  you  see  my  good  friend  the  doctor  before  he  receives  a 
letter  from  me,  present  him  my  best  respects. 

Adieu, 

J.  SEWALL. 

TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  COWBRIDGE,  WALES. 

Exeter,  Dec.  26,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  often  in  fancy,  whilst  reading  a  letter  from  a  friend, 
transported  myself  into  his  presence,  and  considered  myself  as  at 
tending  to  his  personal  conversation,  thereby  increasing  my  own 
enjoyment.  This  curious  effect  may  perhaps  be  peculiar  to  me ; 
however,  I  am  pleasing  myself  that  my  friend  Col.  Browne, 
although  not  apt  to  be  carried  into  the  regions  of  fancy,  may  on 
occasion  be  capable  of  an  innocent  delusion  of  this  kind. 

Without  further  preface,  my  chief  intention  in  this  scrawl  is  to 
amuse  this  dark  gloomy  season  with  the  recital  of  a  few  circum 
stances  relative  to  our  own  country  that  were  told  me  by  Capt. 
Hendley,  who  was  taken  into  Boston  by  an  American  privateer, 
and  passed  six  weeks  there  and  at  Cape  Ann.  The  inhabitants, 
he  said,  seemed  discontented,  and  would  gladly  exchange  their  un 
happy  condition  for  peace  and  a  connection  with  their  old  friends, 
could  a  constitutional  line  be  drawn,  and  America  be  thereby  freed 
from  the  future  attacks  of  administration.  That  they  are  dissatis 
fied  with  their  new  allies,  against  whom  there  are  great  heart 
burnings  ;  that  all  commerce  is  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  and 


1778.]          JOURNAL  AND  LETTERS.  209 

commodities  held  at  an  unreasonable  height ;  not  a  store  belonging 
to  the  inhabitants  contains  any  European  goods,  all  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  French,  for  which  they  will  receive  nothing  but 
money,  taking  in  return  no  supplies  from  the  Anglo-Americans, 
nor  employing  a  laborer  ;  in  short,  that  the  French  are  not  of  the 
least  advantage  to  them  in  any  respect ;  that  privateering,  the  only 
resource  of  the  merchants,  is  almost  annihilated  by  the  great  shock 
the  adventurers  that  way  have  received ; — that  the  European  arti 
cles  of  import  are  extremely  wanted,  and  at  an  enormous  price ; 
that  the  French  are  hated,  and  in  turn  they  despise  and  oppress  the 
inhabitants,  between  whom  and  themselves  there  are  frequent  quar 
rels  ;  and  one  that  lately  made  a  noise  in  our  papers  here,  which 
happened  at  Boston  a  few  months  since,  was  occasioned  solely  by 
the  opposition  of  the  natives  to  the  French,  no  English  soldier  or 
sailor  being  then  in  town;  that  those  who  now  rule  the  roast  there 
are  like  a  certain  class  of  men  mentioned  in  Scripture,  taken  from 
the  lowest  of  the  people,  and  too  tenacious  of  their  ill-acquired 
power  and  honors  to  part  with  them,  or  to  suffer  the  least  intima 
tion  of  reconcilement  with  Great  Britain  :  honors  did  I  say  1 — for  a 
moment  I  forgot  Addison's  incontrovertible  adage, 

"  When  vice  prevails, 
The  post  of  honor  is  a  private  station." 

I  fear  the  measure  of  these  men's  folly  is  not  yet  quite  full,  but 
I  am  egregiously  mistaken  if  they  are  not  making  hasty  strides  to 
their  utter  undoing.  On  advice  of  an  order  of  the  Congress  for  a 
valuation  of  estates,  real  and  personal,  through  their  extended  do 
mains,  the  Massachusetts  Bay  assembly  incontestably,  unanimously 
and  promptly  refused  compliance,  and  despatched  Mr.  Hancock  to 
Philadelphia  with  their  determination  and  remonstrance.  Their  bills 
of  credit,  which  at  first  emission  passed  at  the  rate  of  four  and  six 
pence  the  dollar,  had  sunk  to  one  and  threepence,  and  passed 
current  only  by  permission  at  one  and  sixpence.  The  houses  in 
Boston  and  all  along  the  coast  are  stripped  of  every  article  of  fur 
niture  and  valuable  effects,  save  what  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
constant  use,  the  inhabitants  being  in  continued  dread  of  a  descent 
on  the  coast,  which,  indeed,  they  have  but  too  probable  grounds  ta 
apprehend.  A  passenger,  lately  fled  from  America  on  the  score  of 
sufferings  there,  declares  the  late  menace  in  the  commissioners'" 

27 


210  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1778. 

proclamation  will  assuredly  effect  what  neither  persuasions  nor 
threats  have  yet  had  force  enough  to  bring  about,  a  solid  and 
firm  union  of  all  ranks  and  classes,  for  want  of  which  alone  in  the 
middle  colonies,  he  says,  the  British  army  has  not,  long  since,  been 
driven  into  the  sea.  The  manifesto,  which  I  presume  you  have 
seen,  issued  by  the  Congress  in  consequence  of  that  proclamation, 
renders  it  more  than  probable  that  should  the  dreadful  expedient 
threatened  take  place,  history  will  hardly  furnish  a  parallel  to  the 
cruelty  and  carnage  of  the  following  campaign,  which  God  in  his 
infinite  mercy  prevent.  I  presume,  before  receipt  of  this,  you  will 
have  seen  the  account  ot  Lords  Cornwallis  and  Carlisle's  return  to 
Great  Britain,  and  the  shattered  condition  of  Byron's  fleet,  on  which 
was  placed  such  confidence  and  dependence,  having  sustained  a 
loss,  it  is  to  be  feared,  of  several  capital  ships.  The  almost  unin 
terrupted  series  of  untoward  events  and  curious  accidents  which 
have  befallen  this  people  since  the  commencement  of  these  mutual 
confusions  and  strifes,  has  not  seldom  reminded  me  of  a  passage  in 
the  song  of  Deborah  and  Barak ;  I  wish  for  form's  sake  I  could 
recollect  our  New  England  version  ;  "  They  fought  from  heaven, 
the  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera."  This  text  is  not 
quoted  by  way  of  comparison  ;  I  would  not  have  you  suppose  that 
I  mean  to  compare  the  hosts  of  Sisera  to  the  British  army,  for  in 
truth  I  do  not  think  the  Americans  to  be  the  chosen  people  of  God, 
or  their  armies  the  armies  of  the  living  God,  though  they  have 
only  and  simply  Deo  auspice  for  their  motto  on  their  bills  and 
standards.  I  should  have  finished  the  above  by  adding  somewhat 
of  a  more  cheerful  strain,  but  having  finished  my  sheet  must  con 
clude  with  affectionate  regards  to  Mrs.  Browne,  your  son  and  self. 

S.  CURWEN. 

Dec.  25.  There  have  been  twenty-eight  king's  ships,  priva 
teers  and  letters  of  marque  carried  into  Brest,  from  20th  ult.  to 
10th  inst. ;  a  very  respectable  number,  truly,  considering  the  Eng 
lish  are  lords  of  the  ocean  !  Of  the  twenty-eight  bishops  only  four 
voted  to  adopt  the  new  mode  of  carrying  on  the  war  by  spreading 
carnage  and  desolation  through  America,  as  decreed  in  the  com 
missioners'  proclamation.  Whatever  excuses  or  reasons  politicians 
may  assign  for  extending  or  securing  temporal  dominion  by  such 


JOURNAL   AND  LETTERS.  211 

cut-throat  measures,  these  four  servants  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus  have  exhibited  a  spirit  that  should  through  the  duration  of 
time  render  them  infamous,  and  their  names  and  memory  proverbi 
ally  detestable.  In  the  papers  received  to-day  appears  a  mani 
festo  of  Congress  in  answer  to  the  commissioners'  proclamation, 
announcing  a  retaliation  of  like  measures. 

Dec.  28.  This  day  I  am  arrived  at  my  grand  climacteric,  hav 
ing  just  completed  my  sixty-third  year :  with  more  propriety  than 
old  Jacob  may  I  say,  "few  and  evil  have  been  the  days  of  the  years 
of  my  life."  For  what  I  am  reserved,  is  known  to  God  only ;  many 
have  been  my  deliverances,  many  the  deaths  I  have  been  rescued 
from.  May  my  remaining  days  be  employed  to  more  valuable  pur 
poses,  and  to  my  own  real  honor  and  advantage,  temporal  and 
eternal.  Visited  by  Mr.  George  Eveleigh,  with  whom  and  family 
I  have  an  agreeable  acquaintance.  He  was  one  of  the  first  couple 
my  old  friend  Mr.  McGilchrist  married  in  South  Carolina,  the  cere 
mony  performed  at  Wands  in  Christ  Church  parish.  He  was  ed 
ucated  at  Harvard  College,  and  boarded  with  President  Wads- 
worth  ;  at  first  sight  of  me  at  Bristol  two  years  ago,  he  recognized 
my  name  and  person;  having  been  at  school  in  Cambridge  while 
I  was  a  student  in  college. 


212  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Exeter,  Jan.  1, 1779.  A  delightful  day  ;  visited  Mr.  Eveleigh, 
and  by  invitation  passed  the  afternoon  and  evening  there.  Why 
should  presents  be  made  upon  the  first  day  of  January  more  than 
•at  any  other  time  ?  The  original  of  this  custom  is  attributed  to 
the  reign  of  Romulus,  and  Tatius  king  of  the  Sabines,  xvho  gov 
erned  jointly  in  Rome  in  the  seventh  year  of  the  city.  It  is  said 
that  Tatius,  having  been  presented  on  the  first  of  January  with 
some  boughs  out  of  the  forest  of  the  goddess  Strenia  in  token  of 
good  luck,  began  this  custom,  and  called  the  present  strena.  The 
Romans  made  this  a  holiday,  and  consecrated  it  to  the  honor  of 
Janus,  offering  sacrifices  to  him;  and  the  people  went  in  throngs 
to  Mount  Tarpeia,  where  Janus  had  an  altar  clothed  anew,  and 
<chose  to  begin  their  respective  employments  on  this  day.  They 
wished  one  another  good  luck,  and  were  very  careful  not  to  speak 
any  thing  ill-natured  or  quarrelsome.  The  common  presents  among 
the  meaner  sort  were  dates,  figs  and  honey,  which  were  usually 
•covered  with  leaf  gold:  and  those  who  were  under  the  protection 
of  great  men  used  to  add  a  piece  of  money.  In  the  reign  of  Au 
gustus,  the  populace,  gentry  and  senators  used  to  send  him  new- 
jear's  gifts,  and  if  he  was  not  in  town,  they  carried  them  to  the 
capitol.  From  the  Romans  this  custom  went  to  the  Greeks,  and 
from  the  heathens  to  the  Christians,  who  early  carne  into  the  prac 
tice  of  making  presents  to  the  magistrates.  Some  of  the  fathers 
write  strenuously  against  this  practice  on  account  of  the  immorali 
ties  committed  under  the  cover  of  protection  : — but  since  the  gov 
ernments  of  the  several  nations  of  Europe  have  become  Christian 
ized,  the  custom  is  still  retained  as  a  token  of  friendship,  love  and 
respect. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMMINS,  LONDON. 

Exeter,  Jan.  17,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Inability  to  provide  for  one's  own  support  is  a  mortifying  con 
sideration  that  embitters  almost  every  circumstance  of  life.  Once 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  213 

I  thought  health  with  virtue  and  a  competency  a  happy  condition ; 
now  I  think  otherwise  ;  experience  has  taught  me  that  more  is  ne 
cessary  to  human  happiness.  Without  something  in  pursuit,  rightly 
or  wrongly  estimated  worthy,  life  is  insipid ; — a  connection  with 
my  fellow  men,  constant  employment,  and  a  much  less  sum  would 
render  me  more  pleased  with  the  world  and  myself,  than  the  sup 
plies  I  receive  whilst  I  dream  the  blank  of  life  along,  unknowing 
and  unknown.  Did  I  know  how  to  emancipate  myself  from  this 
tediously  uniform  state  of  little  more  than  mere  animal  life,  not  an 
hour  should  pass  before  I  would  fly  to  any  quarter  of  the  habitable 
earth  to  accomplish  it.  My  past  inactive  state  often  reminds  me  of 
a  Latin  adage,  "fruges  consumere  natus"  a  reproach  I  can  but  ill 
brook.  Man  by  the  kind  intention  of  his  Creator  was  formed  for 
useful  action  ;  selfish  ease,  indulgence  and  repose  injures  both  body 
and  mind ;  the  former  without  exercise  cannot  maintain  its  health 
and  strength,  nor  will  the  latter,  if  unemployed  on  laudable,  wor 
thy  objects,  refuse  to  stoop  to  base  ones,  or  destroy  its  vigor  for 
want  of  exertion,  or  by  sensual  indulgence. 

Your  mention  of  the  proscription  act  in  your  letter  I  fancy  I 
did  not  understand,  never  having  seen  any  names  inserted  in  any 
act ;  if  you  mean  that  lately  in  our  newspapers  wherein  the  refu 
gees  are  forbidden  under  penalty  of  transportation  to  return,  and 
threatened  with  death  in  case  of  a  second  entrance  within  the  Uni 
ted  States,  that  I  have  seen,  but  none  other  of  the  kind. 

Yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jan.  23.  The  last  "  Remembrancer"  contains  a  list  of  refugees 
banished  by  act  of  the  Massachusetts  government,  specifying  only 
lour  out  of  the  thirteen  from  Salem,  viz.,  William  Browne,  Benja 
min  Pickman,  John  Prince,  and  John  Sargent.  The  omisMon  of 
my  name  affords  no  comfort,  fearing  it  may  operate  disadvantage- 
ously  here,  being  dependent  on  the  bounty  of  the  court. 

Jan.  30.  This  day  is,  in  Church  of  England  language, 
"  Charles's  martyrdom."  Attended  service  ;  Archdeacon  Hull  of 
Barnstaple,  preached  a  furious,  high-tory  address  to  a  thin  audi 
ence. 


214  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Exeter,  Feb.  1,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  hope  your  New  England  toryism  will  not  end  in  English  ja 
cobinism,  as  your  letter  seems  to  indicate.  Curiosity  led  me  last 
night  to  the  cathedral,  where,  if  you  are  a  real  believer  that  those 
sufferings  of  the  pretended  martyr  were  undeserved,  your  ears 
would  have  been  charmed  with  Archdeacon  Hull's  encomium  on 
him,  and  your  liberal  breast  fired  with  indignant  rage  at  his  cruel 
persecutors.  But  really,  when  I  see  the  solemn  mockery  of  a  pul 
pit  clothed  in  black,  the  staves  of  the  city  officers  covered  with  the 
same  grim  color,  no  music  in  the  service  of  the  day,  which  gener 
ally  constitutes  so  essential  a  part  of  Christian  worship  ;  God  most 
earnestly  entreated  not  to  lay  this  miscalled  murder  to  the  charge 
of  the  nation,  or  to  require  his  blood  at  their  hands,  who,  to  com 
pass  his  own  tyrannous  purposes,  would  have  involved  (and  really 
did  as  far  as  in  him  lay)  this  island  and  Ireland  in  confusion,  car 
nage  and  desolation  ;  and  further  that  nothing  less  than  the  blood 
of  the  Son  of  God  can  expiate  this  (in  the  Church  language)  inhu 
man  and  execrable  (but  I  durst  affirm  justly  deserved)  murder,  I 
cannot  fail  to  wish  government  would  lay  aside  a  service  which 
insults  common  sense,  is  a  mere  religious  grimace,  and  which  all 
liberal  minds  justly  despise.  Were  you  to  have  seen  the  pitiful  and 
thin  company,  you  would  have  wagered  odds  that  they  were  har 
dened  wretches,  and  went  merely  to  save  appearances. 

I  thank  you  for  the  mention  of  my  name  to  your  father,  which, 
if  I  judge  from  former  experience,  will  be  productive  of  no  very 
comfortable  effects  to  me  ;  my  friends  having,  I  fear,  adhered  to  the 
notion  that  my  departure  was  an  intentional  and  full  adieu.  The 
omission  of  my  name  in  the  banishment  act  I  fear  will  prove  inju 
rious  to  me  here.  That  your  father  makes  no  mention  of  govern 
ment  or  the  temper  of  the  people,  I  presume  arises  from  his  prudence 
and  the  surveillance  of  the  rulers  there,  which  is,  I  fancy,  strict 
enough. 

Very  affectionately, 

S.    CUKWKN. 

Feb.  15.     Evening  walked  with  Mr.  Eveleigh's  family  through 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  215 

Fore-street  to  see  illumination  on  occasion  of  Admiral  Keppel's 
acquittal  by  court  martial  on  a  charge  of  Sir  Hugh  Palliser ;  the 
result  is  the  highest  approbation  of  his  conduct.  London  has 
voted  thanks  for  his  bravery  and  the  freedom  of  the  city,  and  all 
large  cities  and  towns  are  following  the  example. 

Feb.  20.  James  Russell  on  his  way  to  Dartmouth,  came  here 
to  inform  me  that  it  was  debated  in  Massachusetts  Assembly  whe 
ther  my  name  should  be  inserted  in  the  exclusion  bill,  and  carried 
by  a  small  majority  in  my  favor  after  a  warm  debate. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Exeter,  Feb.  19,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  presume  I  am  to  expect  all  that  is  worth  hearing  from  Judge 
Sewall's  letter  to  you.  All  well  in  Salem  the  last  of  December,  so 
Mr.  Russell  informs  me.  Two  or  three  persons,  I  am  told,  who 
had  not  money  enough  for  shoes  for  their  feet,  are  now  riding  in 
coaches  of  their  own  in  Boston.  Solomon  says,  "  I  have  seen  ser 
vants  on  horseback  and  princes  walking  on  foot;"  I  really  think 
the  royal  preacher  was  a  prophet,  and  pointed  at  the  events  of  our 
day ;  at  least  the  present  state  of  English  America  verifies  the 
remark. 

Though  the  general  election  be  not  for  these  two  years,  a  can 
vass  for  votes  has  begun  already.  Rolle  against  Baring  and  Chol- 
wich,  who  have  combined  with  the  church  and  chambers.  I  have 
seen  one  instance  and  heard  of  another  of  such  gross  condescen 
sion,  that  it  has  given  me  a  thorough  dislike  to  parliamentary  can 
vassing,  and  manifests  the  pitiful  notions  of  a  nation's  honor,  virtue 
and  regard  to  public  interest,  which  no  man  of  common  sense  and 
real  integrity,  and  riot  poisoned  by  corrupt  principles  and  practices 
of  the  times,  can  stoop  to,  and  which  nothing  but  sinister,  selfish 
views  can  digest  and  submit  to.  Men  of  recluse  lives  only,  such  as 
monks  and  speculative  system  makers,  vent  their  spleen  on  the  man 
ners,  customs,  principles  and  practices  of  their  day,  and  call  their 
times  the  dregs  and  refuse.  I  will  therefore  suppose  it  always 
was,  and  ever  will  be  the  case,  with  ambitious  men,  to  use  the 
same  low  arts  and  base  flattering  compliances  to  gain  their  selfish 
ends;  be  it  so,  it  is  still  unworthy  conduct.  God  forbid  that 


216  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

wealth,  power  and  influence  achieved  by  such  means  as  reason 
condemns  and  honor  despises,  shall  ever  be  in  my  possession.  The 
nearer  I  approach  the  verge  of  life,  the  juster  I  fancy  my  notions 
are,  and  if  indeed  they  shall  prove  so,  I  hope  to  be  finally  rid  of  all 
essential  errors  before  I  put  off  this  mortal  coil  and  become  an  as 
sociate  of  pure,  refined,  unembodied  intelligences. 

Yours,  etc., 

S.    CURWEN. 
TO  JONATHAN  SEWALL,  ESQ.,  BRISTOL. 

Exeter,  March  6,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  delayed  answering  your  last  favor,  in  hopes  to  transmit  you 
some  little  intelligence  about  our  own  country  by  means  of  a  Salem 
captain,  who  was  taken  on  his  passage  to  Cadiz,  and  carried  into 
Bristol,  from  whence  he  set  off  for  London,  and  after  a  short  abode 
passed  over  to  France.  His  sudden  flight  from  this  land  of  toryism 
and  tyranny  has  deprived  me  of  wished  and  expected  information 
respecting  my  family  and  friends,  but  instead  of  granting  my  re 
quest  signified  in  a  letter  I  wrote,  he  did  not  think  it  consistent 
with  the  purity  of  his  principles  to  correspond  with  a  refugee,  as 
he  told  Mr.  Timmins. 

The  banishment  act,  which  party  resentment  dictated,  will,  like 
all  overstrained  penal  measures,  be  its  own  destroyer,  and  the  mali 
cious  designs  of  its  promoters  be  frustrated  by  the  very  means  em 
ployed  to  manifest  their  venom  and  spite  against  the  friends  of  law 
ful  government  and  the  constitutional  rights  of  their  country  ;  nay, 
it  was  soon  clamored  against,  and  a  noted  brother  counsellor  of 
your  honor's,  whom  you  well  know,  of  the  doubtful  or  rather 
double  gender,  has  publicly  declared  it  to  be  a  mad  act,  to  which 
one  may  add,  as  ever  disgraced  tyranny  itself.  How  unlike  is  the 
conduct  of  our  countrymen,  who,  whilst  contending  or  pretending 
to  contend  for  civil  liberty,  are  contriving  and  exciting,  with  the 
most  rigorous  severity,  plans  of  oppression  against  many  of  their  in 
nocent  fellow  subjects,  feeble  and  unarmed,  merely  for  speculative 
opinions,  to  the  disgrace  of  their  pretensions — 1  say  how  unlike  is 
this  conduct  to  those  generous  Athenians  who  undertook  the  expul 
sion  of  the  thirty  tyrants  that  had  usurped  the  government  of  that 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  217 

city  :  themselves  reinstated  in  the  rank  of  citizens,  their  desires 
were  gratified ;  they  did  not  persecute  with  everlasting  hatred  their 
enemies,  but,  determined  not  to  yield  to  that  slavery  to  which 
those  had  basely  submitted,  they  invited  them  to  share  the  freedom 
which  themselves  had  so  gloriously  acquired.  The  above  quota 
tion,  my  worthy  friend  will  candidly  suppose  is  only  applied  by 
way  of  illustration,  not  comparison,  which,  however,  does  not 
run  on  all  fours,  as  the  saying  is.  I  was  going  to  set  down  a  few 
remarks  on  the  present  state  of  the  nation  as  it  appears  to  my  view  ; 
for  the  good  of  the  nation,  you  know,  in  which  each  individual's 
happiness  is  involved,  is  of  too  much  importance  to  be  neglected 
by  any  who  wish  well  to  their  country  ;  but  having  made  so  many 
false  judgments,  and  remembering  the  substance  in  a  former  favor, 
my  courage  fails,  and  I  think  it  more  prudent  to  keep  my  ideas  in 
my  own  breast.  There  have  been  circulating,  among  some,  curious 
and  amusing  enough  inconsistencies  relating  to  General  Campbell 
in  Georgia,  from  whose  successful  invasion  multitudes  augur  the 
quick  reduction  of  America,  and  have  taken  anticipatory  possession 
of  the  remains  of  D'Estaing's  fleet  that  the  flames  and  sea  have  not 
devoured;  with  Martinique  and  Guadaloupe.  Unluckily  the  truth 
of  one  report  dispels,  in  the  minds  of  judicious  people,  the 
succeeding  one,  consigning  it  to  forgetfulness,  which  I  presume 
is  pretty  much  the  case  with  you,  unless  the  privateering  business 
engrosses  the  attention  of  your  Bristol  traders,  which  is  not  the  case 
with  us ;  but  little  concern  that  way  and  a  declining  trade  leave 
our  commercial  gentry  time  enough  on  their  hands,  now  employed 
in  the  laudable  purpose  of  talking  and  disputing  for  the  honor  of 
Keppel  and  the  good  of  the  nation.  These  political  dabblers,  to 
gether  with  clergy  and  attornies,  rendezvous  at  Mills'  coffee 
house,  the  mart  of  politics  and  scandal,  and,  I  assure  you,  figure 
away  as  notably  as  Fielding's  coffee-house  politicians,  and  are  not 
altogether  unequal  to  them. 

Having  taken  some  pains,  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  read  the 
foregoing,  notwithstanding  the  abbreviations,  which,  for  despatch, 
I  have  used. 

I  am  your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 


28 


218  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

Exeter,  March  17.  Attended  a  trial  at  Common  Pleas  in  the 
castle,  Judges  Hotham  and  Perryn  ;  evening,  returning  home  met 
a  large  crowd  hallooing,  having  blue  cockades  in  their  hats,  with 
an  old  man  at  their  head,  and  streamers  flying  at  the  end  of  long 
sticks ;  it  proved  a  triumph  for  victory  gained  over  the  parish 
priest  in  a  tithe  case  : — I  am  told  it  is  a  customary  practice. 

April  2.  Good  Friday.  Canon  Moore  preached  at  cathedral 
an  excellent  sermon,  as  his  always  are ;  he  is  called  Bishop  Kep- 
pel's  sermon-writer,  as  the  latter  is  not  considered  a  good  writer. 

April  12.  Went  to  deliver  a  letter  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erving, 
for  Judge  Sewall  at  Bristol,  they  being  about  to  depart. 

TO  DR.  CHARLES  RUSSELL,  ANTIGUA. 

Exeter,  April  2,  1779 
DEAR  SIR  : 

You  are  now  very  near  the  intended  seat  of  war ;  may  your  lit 
tle  island  be  protected  from  the  ravages  of  the  enemy.  As  the 
events  of  war  are  doubtful,  I  promise  myself  no  certain  advantages 
from  the  junction  of  Admirals  Byron  and  Barrington ; — shall  think 
it  no  unfavorable  campaign  if  we  can  retain  our  present  posses 
sions,  expecting  no  conquests  besides  St.  Lucia,  the  surrender  of 
which,  in  sight  of  a  superior  French  army  and  navy  to  British 
troops,  does  immortal  honor  to  the  victors'  bravery  and  skill.  The 
newspapers  that  are  the  mints  of  falsehood,  are  daily  deceiving  us 
with  relations  of  great  distress  in  the  French  islands,  great  dissatis 
faction  and  heart-burnings  between  Daville,  the  governor  of  Mar- 
tinico,  and  D'Estaing ;  that  the  latter  has,  with  a  disabled  fleet  and 
a  scanty  stock  of  provisions,  been  blocked  up  in  Port  Royal  har 
bor,  Martinico  ;  but  our  newspaper  fabricators  have  so  many  pur 
poses  to  serve  quite  distinct  from  truth  and  the  good  of  society,  that 
I  rarely  put  into  my  list  of  facts  what  for  amusement  only  I  read 
there. 

Five  or  six  thousand  new  levies  are  designed  for  America ;  our 
privateers  have  been  successful  against  the  East  and  West  Indian 
French  fleets,  and  the  French  have  nearly  balanced  accounts  by 
taking  and  destroying  near  twenty  of  our  frigates,  besides  prizes, 
of  which  Lloyd's  list  presents  us  weekly  with  no  contemptible 
numbers. 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  219 

The  king's  troops  are  in  possession  of  Georgia,  from  which 
some  augur  the  reduction  of  all  America,  but  from  what  reason  I 
cannot  perceive  ;  one,  two,  or  three  colonies  are  but  part  of  the 
confederacy,  and  there  must  be  some  capital  defeat,  I  presume,  to 
cool  the  ardor  of  minds  so  united  as  the  Americans  are  at  present. 
I  remain  your  friend,  etc., 

S.  CURWEN. 

(The  above  inclosed  to  William  Cabot,  London,  to  be  deliv 
ered  into  Samuel  Quincy's  hands,  who  is  soon  going  off  to  Antigua 
as  comptroller  at  Parkenbay.) 

May  10.  Walked  to  Poltimore,  the  seat  of  the  late  Sir  Rich 
ard  Bampfield,  five  miles  out : — this  r?Ler  for  his  penuriousness 
was  called  Tenpenny  Dick,  endeavoring  to  reduce  laborers'  day 
wages  to  that  sum.  It  is  an  irregular  old  edifice,  and  its  office, 
deserted  by  its  owner,  foreshows  approaching  ruin.  The  heir, 
whose  naiue  is  Sir  Charles  Warwick  Ik; Afield,  is  of  so  different 
a  humor  from  the  late  miser,  that,  in  the  space  of  eighteen  months 
he  has  puffed  off  sixty  thousand  pounds  in  cash,  and  an  income  from 
lands  of  eight  thousand  a  year,  so  far  as  to  require  many  years' 
mortgages,  which  the  estate  is  now  under,  with  an  allowance  of 
three  hundred  a  year  only.  It  is  said  his  expenses  during  his  par 
oxysms  of  folly  was  thirty  pounds  an  hour ;  a  sad  instance  of  folly, 
thoughtlessness,  extravagance,  and  compliance  with  the  luxuri 
ous  taste  and  dissipation  of  the  present  age. 

May  13,  Ascension  Day.  The  limits  of  each  parish  surveyed 
by  committees,  a  great  number  of  boys  attendant,  carrying  long 
slender  white  rods  in  their  hands ;  at  certain  intervals  stopping  and 
making  loud  huzzas. 

A  Brit;sh  fleet  of  nearly  five  hundred  sail  remains  wind-bound 
in  Torbay  under  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  commanding  over  forty  men- 
of-war. 

May  18.  Byron's  fleet,  left  in  the  West  Indies,  worsted  by 
D'Estaing.  By  Lord  Gower's  (president  of  the  council)  own  ac 
knowledgment  in  the  House  of  Lords,  the  nation  is  in  a  woful 
plight,  and  justly  alarmed  lest  Spain  should  take  part  against  us, 
as  Count  Alrnadava,  their  ambassador,  intimated  when  he  should 
leave  : — in  which  case  it  is  my  belief  we  have  every  thing  to  fear, 


220  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

the  combined  fleets  greatly  exceeding  ours.  Ireland  discontented 
and  seemingly  ready  to  join  an  invader  ;  Scotland  uneasy ;  muti 
nies  and  discontent  in  the  fleet, — distraction,  etc.,  in  councils. 

May  19.  Col.  Erving  and  family  removing  to  Exmouth,  by 
which  I  have  lost  one  source  of  much  enjoyment; — repeatedly 
pressed  to  reside  in  summer  with  them,  which  I  have  hitherto  with 
stood  from  a  dislike  to  watering  places.  A  fleet  of  sixteen  ships 
of  the  line  and  ninety  transports,  it  is  reported,  were  seen  steering 
towards  Ireland ;  should  they  land  a  general  defection  is  to  be  feared. 

June  5.  This  day  informed  by  Lord  Clifford's  priest,  that  I 
may  have  admittance  to  see  his  curiously  wrought  bed,  presented 
by  the  old  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  said  to  be  the  richest  in  Europe,  for 
which  the  queen  has  offered  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  been  refused. 
It  is  said  there  are  four  thousand  Romish  priests  and  fifteen  hun 
dred  dissenting  ministers  of  all  persuasions  in  England  and  Wales. 
The  former  succeed  in  making  converts. 

June  20.  Yesterday  Lord  North  announced  in  the  House  of 
Commons  that  the  Spanish  minister  had  left. 

June  23.  It  is  said  favorable  news  has  arrived  to  govern 
ment  ; — what  a  pity  that  views  and  passions  of  mankind  were  not 
coincident  with  their  real  interest,  enjoyment  and  felicity ;  but, 
alas !  they  are  at  odds  too  frequently, — in  the  future  world  all 
wrongs  will  be  rectified. 

June  28.  Mr.  John  Sargent,  my  townsman,  brought  a  letter 
from  Col.  Browne,  at  Cowbridge ;  he  proposes  to  abide  with  me 
five  or  six  days. 

July  8.  At  Lympston,  ordination  of  Mr.  Jarvis's  brother ;  met 
my  friends  Mr.  Smith  and  John  Sargent  from  Sidmouth.  The  actors 
were  Sir  H.  Trelawney,  Dr.  Kippis,  of  London,  and  Dr.  Priestley, 
who  preached,  and  exhibited  a  picture  of  his  oven  principles,  deny 
ing  in  express  terms  need  of  particular  aids  in  all  cases  since 
Christ's  appearance,  being  only  necessary  for  the  establishment  of 
a  religion ; — declaring  man  to  be  in  a  similar  state  respecting 
moral  means  as  earth  is  in  regard  to  seed  put  into  it ;  if  it  had 
been  in  a  previous  state  of  fitness  for  bringing  forth,  its  product 
would  be  in  proportion  ;  if  otherwise,  small  or  none  at  all. 

July  14.  Spectators  on  cliffs  amazed  with  the  sight  of  the 
grand  fleet  sailing  out  of  Torbay. 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  221 

Exmouth,  July  18.  Attended  worship  at  Lady  Glenorchy's 
chapel ;  principles  inculcated  not  unlike  those  at  Lady  Hunting- 
ton's  chapel.  The  preacher  a  Scotchman,  (with  a  master  of  arts 
gown,)  a  missionary  of  Lady  G.,  who,  with  Mr.  Holmes  of  Exeter, 
fitted  this  chapel  for  the  propagation  of  Scotch  orthodoxy.  After 
noon,  at  Withy  comb-Raleigh  parish,  lying  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Exe  ;  the  houses  are  chiefly  low,  with  mud  walls  and  thatched 
roofs ;  though  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  brick,  covered 
with  slate,  reputable  and  handsome,  owned  chiefly  by  Exeter 
people,  who  come  down  in  shoals  on  Saturday  afternoons  for  the 
purpose  of  pastime  and  festivity  among  themselves  on  Sundays  ; — 
this  being  almost  the  only  resort  on  that  day,  when  the  town  is  full 
of  them,  not,  as  I  am  told,  to  the  emolument  or  wish  of  the  inhabi 
tants. 

July  22.  Received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bretland,  Exeter,  inclosing 
a  card  left  for  me  by  Governor  Hutchinson  on  his  way  to  London 
from  the  west,  whither  he  had  been  with  C.  Russell. 

Jlug.  17.  Visited  by  Mr.  Smith  and  Samuel  Sewall  from  Sid- 
mouth  ;  reported  that  the  combined  fleet  of  France  and  Spain  are  off 
Plymouth;  people  along  the  coast  and  through  the  country  alarmed. 

Aug.  23.  A  levelling  spirit  has  unhappily  taken  place  among 
the  lower  classes ;  menacing  expressions ;  they  more  than  whisper 
their  wishes  that  the  French  may  land,  adding  they  had  as  lief  have 
a  Louis  as  a  George  to  reign  over  them. 

Exeter,  Sept.  6.  Am  informed  that  I  am  suspected  to  be  an 
American  spy,  disaffected  to  government ;  this  was  reported  by 
one  Calhier,  a  violent  hater  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  American 
continent  and  of  all  its  friends  and  well-wishers  :  his  malice  I 
despise,  and  his  power  to  injure  me  with  government  I  defy. 
Exeter  has  become  the  seat  of  scandal,  pride,  inhospitality,  foppery ; 
an  awkward  imitation  of  London  manners,  to  iheir  folly,  prevails. 

Sept.  23.  Left  in  the  coach  for  Bristol,  passing  through  Wel 
lington,  Taunton,  Bridgewater,  and  Cross,  and  arrived  at  White 
Hart  inn,  Bristol,  where  lodged. 

Sept.  24.  Took  lodgings  at  Mrs.  Froade's,  York-street,  Bruns 
wick-square. 


222  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

TO  MR.  GEORGE  RUSSELL,  BIRMINGHAM. 

Bristol,  Sept.  28,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  alarming  condition  of  public  affairs  of  late  has,  I  presume, 
engaged  your  attention,  and  that  of  every  thoughtful  man  ;  what 
remains  for  Great  Britain  to  hope,  I  know  not ;  the  causes  of  fear 
are  too  many  and  too  obvious  to  escape  the  observation  of  the  most 
thoughtless  and  inconsiderate.  It  is  to  be  wished  she  may  save  at 
least  a  part  of  her  foreign  dominions ;  which,  if  not  secured  by 
treaty  before  the  following  campaign,  will,  I  fear,  fall  a  sacrifice 
to  the  ambition  of  France  and  Spain,  and  the  resentment  of 
America  ;  notwithstanding  the  late  successes  of  Sir  George  Collier, 
who  has  wounded  the  latter  in  the  naval  way,  though  not  I  believe 
essentially.  To  counterweigh  this,  I  fear  Sir  James  Wright,  the 
late  governor,  despatched  from  hence  to  reassume  the  government 
of  Georgia,  whose  sudden  departure  from  thence  to  New-York, 
and  General  Provost's  abandoning  his  troops  at  Beaufort,  prove 
beyond  a  doubt  the  pitiful  condition  they  were  in,  and  the  great 
probability  of  their  falling  a  prey  to  Hopkins'  squadron  by  sea, 
and  the  provincial  arms  by  land.  What  a  wretched  conclusion  of 
so  hopeful  a  beginning,  as  it  seems  the  royal  army  had  at  least  in 
expectation  when  they  first  set  forward  in  their  expedition  against 
Charleston ;  which  seems  as  if  destined  by  Providence  to  bring 
disgrace  on  the  British  arms. 

I  have  just  returned  to  this  place  with  Colonel  Erving's  family, 
to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  most  of  my  happiness  for  more  than  a 
year  at  Sidmouth,  Exeter,  and  last  at  Exmouth.  The  latter  dis 
agreeable  by  too  great  a  mixture  of  Exeter  folks,  "who  view  with 
eye  malign  and  looks  askance,"  as  Milton  describes  Satan  to  have 
done  ;  all  strangers  seeming  to  them  as  intruders  on  their  property, 
as  they  consider  Exmouth,  and  appropriated  only  to  their  pleasure : 
thither  many  families  resort  on  Sundays,  their  day  of  festivity  and 
amusement.  Yours  truly,  S.  CURWEN. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  COWBRIDGE,  WALES. 

Bristol,  Sept.  28,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  presume  you  cannot  in  your  distant  retreat  form  an  idea  of 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  223 

the  great  distress  the  southern  coast  of  this  island  was  in  during 
the  continuance  of  the  combined  fleets  in  our  channel,  especially 
on  the  lower  coasts  of  Devon  and  Cornwall.  The  flight  of  the 
inhabitants  from  Plymouth  to  Exeter  and  inland  parts  during  the 
panic  there,  spread  terror  and  dismay  wherever  they  came ;  ex 
cept  to  a  few,  who  wished  Sir  Charles  Hardy  would,  with  his 
thirty-seven  ships  and  fourteen  frigates,  meet  the  Hectors  of  France 
and  Spain,  having  sixty-seven  ships  and  fifty  frigates ;  and  give 
them,  as  they  phrased  it,  a  sound  drubbing  :  for  they  were  sure  of 
victory  in  case  of  an  engagement.  But  thanks  to  the  favorable  stars 
of  Great  Britain,  at  that  moment  in  the  ascendant,  wiser  heads 
governed  public  councils ;  he  slipped  by  them  and  got  safely  up 
to  Spithead. 

This  day  we  have  heard  that  Paul  Jones,  in  the  French  king's 
service,  has  taken  a  forty-four  gun  frigate,  and  entered  the  harbor 
of  Hull,  and  destroyed  sixteen  ships. 

What  think  you  of  Sir  George  Collier's  Penobscot  expedition  ? 
The  loss  of  so  many  ships  must  be  insupportably  heavy  on  our  pro 
vince,  and  perhaps  irreparable  ;  however,  it  is  a  great  relief  to  the 
English  trade,  they  being  all  large  ships  of  war,  and  our  sailors 
expert  and  adroit  in  privateering  business. 

Very  truly  yours,         S.  CURWEN. 

Sept.  28.  Visited  Colonel  Erving  and  family ;  afterwards 
dined  and  took  tea  with  my  worthy  friend,  Judge  Sewall;  his 
company,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faneuil.  From  thence  I  went  to  see  Mrs. 
Gardiner,  her  husband  the  doctor,  and  their  daughter,  Love  Eppes. 
Meeting  Colonel  Oliver,  late  lieutenant-governor  of  Massachusetts, 
he  informed  me  of  his  residence. 

Sept.  29.  Invited  personally  by  Colonel  Oliver  to  a  family 
dinner,  meeting  only  his  daughters  and  his  brother-in-law,  John 
Vassal. 

Sept.  30.  By  the  Ladies'  Magazine  for  August,  I  perceive  that 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  government  limits  the  return  of  the  refugees, 
or  even  absentees,  to  July,  1780. 

Oct.  9.  Took  tea  at  Mr.  Erving's ;  his  daughter  handed  me 
an  ancient  manuscript  copy  of  Goldsmith's  Hermit,  and  Mr.  Rus 
sell's  lines  on  his  wife,  both  excellent. 


224  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

Oct.  15.  Dined  with  Mr.  Vassal  in  Queen's-square,  in  company 
with  Dr.  Gardiner  and  Robert  Hallowell,  the  elder  of  the  Simp 
sons,  Mr.  Vassal's  lady,  and  Miss  Davis.  At  dinner,  informed  by 
Dr.  Gardiner,  of  many  circumstances  relating  to  my  countrymen's 
behavior  during  the  siege  of  Boston,  with  which  I  was  not  before 
acquainted ;  and  which,  if  true,  proves  that  that  people,  like  all 
mankind,  when  civil  commotions  take  place,  are  maddened  into 
party  rage.  I  dare  say,  nothing  peculiarly  bad,  cruel,  wrong,  or 
unjust,  characterizes  that  people  at  this  unhappy  period. 

Oct.  17.  Papers  filled  with  unauthenticated  reports  of  France 
having  swept  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  taken  all  our  forts. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Bristol,  Oct.  28,  1779. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

1  should  not  have  delayed  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your 
last  favor  until  this  day,  had  I  not  undertaken  by  my  friend  Eve- 
leigh's  request  to  furnish  your  reverence  with  an  authentic  and 
minute  detail  of  the  progress  of  the  British  army  to  Charleston, 
their  retreat,  and  late  (for  it  seems  to  be  shrewdly  suspected  here, 
that  at  present  they  are  in  the  hands  and  keeping  of  the  French 
and  Congress,)  dangerous  and  suffering  condition  at  Beaufort.  I 
am  afraid  there  are  too  strong  reasons  for  apprehending  that  event, 
it  being  rumored  here,  and  generally  believed,  that  administration 
has  received  undoubted  intelligence  of  D'Estaing's  destination  to 
Georgia  and  the  southern  coast,  with  six  thousand  troops,  and  a 
much  larger  naval  armament  than  Great  Britain  has  in  those  seas 
to  oppose  them,  with  any  probability  of  success,  under  Arbuthnot. 

Should  General  Clinton,  as  the  papers  have  lately  intimated, 
drain  New  York  of  five  or  six  thousand  troops,  and  proceed  to 
Georgia,  and  with  a  slender  convoy  (comparatively  I  mean)  meet 
D'Estaing,  it  is  not  difficult  to  foretell  the  fate  of  the  American 
war ;  but  this  is  mere  supposition  and  chance,  you  will  say ;  the 
former  may  arrive  on  the  coast  time  enough  to  land  himself  and 
troops,  and  send  off  his  transports.  It  will  be  well  for  England  if 
he  should,  for  the  fate  of  their  claims  and  pretensions  on  that  con 
tinent  depends  on  that  single  circumstance ;  should  the  two  fleets 
meet  in  open  sea,  the  odds  will  be  so  unfavorable  on  our  side,  as 


1779J  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  225 

to  approach  the  worst  consequences.  The  Penobscot  affair  does 
Sir  George  Collier's  conduct  and  bravery  great  credit,  leaves  an 
indelible  stain  on  our  countrymen  and  our  province,  at  present  in 
a  defenceless  condition ;  to  balance  this  account  the  British  cause 
has  suffered  a  disgrace  and  loss  of  equal  magnitude  at  Stony  Point. 
Perhaps  you  have  not  heard,  that  but  for  a  misunderstanding  be 
tween  the  American  generals,  Verplanck's  Point  on  the  opposite 
shore  had  suffered  the  same  fate.  Mr.  *****  read  me  a  letter 
from  Mr.  *  *  *  *  *}  Of  Falmouth,  [now  Portland,  Maine,]  wherein 
he  describes  the  sufferings  of  people  late  in  comfortable  circum 
stances,  and  many  in  a  condition  truly  pitiable.  It  raised  a  sym 
pathy  in  my  breast ;  I  could  not  restrain  the  tear  of  pity,  the  only 
part  of  humanity  in  my  power ;  nor  was  I  a  little  hurt  by  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  told  ;  political  zeal,  like  religious,  can  steel 
the  heart  against  the  feelings  of  nature.  The  succedaneum  or  sub 
stitute  for  bread,  of  which  some  have  not  tasted  for  months,  was 
dried  plaice,  powdered.  Zeal,  for  aught  I  know,  is  sharpened 
rather  than  blunted  by  sufferings,  though  that  and  some  other 
letters  suggest  that  the  people  are  almost  worried  out  by  the  hard 
ships  and  evils  of  war ;  many  no  doubt  are  those,  I  presume,  who 
gain  nothing  by  it ;  of  which  there  are  but  few  except  the  perse 
cuted.  I  pray  God  shorten  the  time  of  their  tribulation ;  may  all 
soon  experience  the  blessings  of  peace,  and  unite  in  thanksgiving 
with  one  heart  and  one  mouth. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Nov.  3.  Dined  with  Messrs,  Simpson  and  Waldo,  in  company 
with  Peter  Frye,  Benjamin  Pickman  and  Richard  Routh. 

Nov.  16.  Visited  Mr.  Lechmere;  drank  tea  with  Judge 
Sewall. 

JVbv.  26.  Visited  Mr.  Barnes  and  Col.  Oliver  with  Peter  Frye ; 
dined  with  them  and  Benjamin  Pickman  at  Mr.  Lechmere's ;  con 
versing  on  American  politics  and  Salem  affairs. 

Nov.  28.  Dined  with  Col.  Oliver  in  company  with  Peter  Frye 
and  Benjamin  Pickman. 

Dec.  14.  Dined  at  Judge  Sewall's,  and  played  quadrille  with 
Mrs.  Faneuil,  Mrs.  Sewall  and  Mr.  Francis  Waldo. 

29 


226  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

Dec.  21.  Visited  Col.  Erving;  drank  tea  by  Mrs.  Sewall's  in 
vitation,  and  passed  the  evening  in  company  with  Mr.  J.  Vassal 
and  lady,  and  niece  Davis,  and  Mr.  R.  Hallowell  and  lady. 

Dec.  23.  Received  two  letters  from  Richard  Ward  and  wife, 
(my  niece,)  the  first  since  my  absence ;  and  one  from  William 
Pynchon. 

TO  DR.  CHARLES  RUSSELL,  ANTIGUA. 

Bristol,  Dec.  23,  1779. 

DEAR  CHARLES  : 

The  numerous  papers  that  will  go  with  the  fleet,  renders  it 
needless  for  me  to  send  such  intelligence  as  I  can  at  best  but  im 
perfectly  furnish  you  with.  There  is  little,  however,  of  newspaper 
news,  besides  what  is  contained  in  the  Gazette,  (which  does  not 
always  give  in  full,  but  perhaps  as  much  information  as  is  prudent,) 
little,  I  mean,  of  what  relates  to  the  public.  The  old  proverb  justly 
says,  truth  lies  in  a  well,  and  difficult  it  is  to  draw  it  up.  I  believe 
that  of  fifty  reports  five  only  will  be  founded  in  fact.  It  is  the  dis- 
temperature  of  the  times,  not  peculiar  to  this  period,  however,  (as 
the  jaundiced  eye  gives  its  hue  to  every  object,)  to  present  only  the 
party  complexion  of  the  relator;  for  all  the  world  here  is  divided 
into  American  and  anti-American,  ministerial  and  anti-ministerial. 
One  fact  1  will  venture  to  relate,  to  which  I  was  an  eye  and  ear 
witness  :  residing  at  Exmouth  while  the  combined  fleets  of  France 
and  Spain  rode  masters  of  the  English  channel,  in  sight  for  many 
days  together  'of  Plymouth,  it  is  hardly  credible  how  the  brave, 
magnanimous  hearts  of  the  English  forsook  them  ;  a  panic  seized 
the  country.  The  town  of  Plymouth  was,  as  quick  as  thought, 
drained  of  its  inhabitants  and  property,  and  all  the  neighborhood  ; 
the  people  flying  spread  terror  as  they  fled  ;  even  the  plague,  or  an 
earthquake,  could  hardly  have  produced  more  terrific  apprehen 
sions.  Strange  and  unaccountable  organization  and  state  of  the 
human  mind  and  body,  that  sudden  fear  should  produce  effects  more 
distressing  than  a  deliberate,  sensible  view  of  danger  !  It  is  equally 
unaccountable  that  the  enemy  did  not  land  ;  for  had  they  atCawsand 
bay,  then  without  any  defence  or  works  to  annoy,  and  a  safe  shore, 
with  three  or  four  thousand  men,  (unprovided  as  we  then  were  with 
munitions  of  war,)  Plymouth,  with  the  docks,  works,  and  shipping, 


1779.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  227 

would  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the  invaders.  There  was  not  wadding 
enough  for  one  round  in  the  garrison.  That  the  enemy  did  not 
land  and  attack  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  then  lying  off  Scilly  Islands 
with  a  very  inferior  fleet,  viz.,  thirty-seven  of  the  line  and  twelve 
frigates,  with  his  sixty-seven  capital  ships  and  thrice  that  number 
of  frigates,  is  to  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  same  principle  that 
Ahitophel's  wise  counsel  was  rejected  ;  for  nothing  could  save  our 
fleet  from  defeat,  and  the  kingdom  from  ravage  and  desolation  in 
consequence ;  but  by  an  overruling  power,  whose  wisdom  appoints 
and  limits  empires  and  their  duration,  this  kingdom  is  preserved ; 
the  wisdom  of  the  wise  we  see  sometimes  turned  to  foolishness,  and 
weakness  made  to  triumph  over  strength  and  courage. 

Since  those  alarms  of  two  months  back,  another  has  succeeded 
of  perhaps  equal  magnitude:  Ireland,  availing  herself  of  the  dis 
tresses  of  her  imperious,  domineering  sister  kingdom,  has  raised  forty 
thousand  men  with  arms  in  their  hands,  independent  of  government, 
and  a  majority  of  143  to  42  in  their  House  of  Commons;  and  loudly 
and  peremptorily  demands  a  free  trade,  which  this  country  has, 
however  bitter  the  dose,  with  seeming  complacency  and  readiness, 
granted.  It  is  said  the  Irish  are  satisfied,  and  have  besides  offered 
to  raise  twenty  thousand  men  ;  but  where  men  think  themselves 
abridged  of  their  natural  rights,  and  have,  or  think  they  have  power 
to  recover  them,  it  will  be  lucky  for  Old  England  if  the  Irish  do 
not  proceed  to  require  other  concessions.  The  former  is  not  in  a 
condition  to  reject  her  demands,  or  to  force  her  obedience.  I  will 
not  say  Ireland  can  maintain  her  independence,  but  there  are  powers 
willing  and  ready  to  support  her  resistance,  and  England  cannot  go 
to  war  with  all  Europe.  In  truth,  she  receives  ungrateful  returns 
for  her  generosity,  unequalled  by  any  state^since  government  ob 
tained  amongst  mankind — but  enough  of  this. 

I  have  received  a  second  letter  from  my  friend,  William  Pyn- 
chon,  Esq.,  and  his  relation  in  answer  to  my  complaint  of  my  ban 
ishment  is  truly  pitiable ;  what  he  says  will  serve  instead  of  a 
hundred  instances  to  exhibit  to  your  view  a  picture  of  the  distress 
ful  situation  of  some  of  our  friends,  viz. :  "  If  you  knew  half  the 
inconveniences  your  continuance  here  would  have  occasioned,  it 
would  surely  lessen  your  discontent ;  had  you  lost  your  business, 
all  your  debts,  the  fruits  of  many  years'  labor ;  been  driven  to  sell 


228  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1779. 

your  house  and  lands  for  payment  of  your  debts  and  expenses ;  and 
thus  reduced,  you  still  would  not  freely  nor  safely  walk  the  streets, 
by  reason  of  party  rage  and  malevolence  and  the  uncontrolled  ran 
cor  of  some  men." 

This  comforts  me,  and  ought  to  console  you  and  every  other 
sufferer.  I  remain,  dear  Charles, 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Dec.  26.  Capt.  Carpenter  called  in  my  absence  ;  he  is  master 
of  the  cartel  ship  from  Boston,  lately  arrived  ;  friends  well  at  Salem 
a  month  ago,  when  he  left.  Went  to  dock  and  saw  Capt.  Car 
penter,  who  handed  me  letters  from  Mr.  Nathan  Goodale,  contain 
ing  gentle  hints  relating  to  surprising  revolutions  in  property, 
which  in  such  times  of  civil  commotions  ever  take  place. 

Dec.  29.  Capt.  Carpenter  dined  with  me,  and  passed  the  even 
ing  ;  he  gave  me  a  more  circumstantial  relation  of  Salem,  its  inha 
bitants,  and  concerns,  its  present  commercial  and  civil  state,  than 
I  had  received  from  any  one  before,  though  I  fancy  it  is  somewhat 
too  highly  colored. 

Dec.  30.  Visited  Mrs.  Erving  and  presented  her  a  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  apple,  which  she  said  she  should  taste  with  a  high 
relish,  adding,  "  to  that  country  I  feel  as  great  partiality  and  love 
as  to  my  native  land." 

Dec.  31.  My  young  townsman,  William  Cabot,  came  down 
from  London  to  visit  me,  by  invitation,  in  order  to  confer  with 
Capt.  Carpenter.  Evening  at  Judge  Sewall's,  in  company  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartford.  Thus  ends  another  revolution  of  the  sun. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  229 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Jan.  1,  1780.  Went  with  William  Cabot  through  Clifton  and 
Hot  Wells  ;  turned  into  merchants'  dock  to  view  the  large  Manilla 
ship  unloading;  her  length  172  feet,  a  prize,  estimated  variously 
from  .£50,000  to  <£300,000.  Took  tea  at  Mr.  Wraxall's,  passed  an 
agreeable  hour,  conversation  turning  on  history,  fulfilment  of  pro 
phecy,  and  convenience  of  ladies7  pattens.  Mrs.  Wraxall  has  been 
represented  as  a  stiff  religionist ;  the  contrary  this  evening  has  af 
forded  a  proof  of:  perhaps  devotion  and  a  conversible  humor 
have  alternately  the  ascendant ;  at  best  we  are  but  a  very  changing, 
uncertain,  unsteady  compound. 

Jan.  5.  Left  for  Bath  at  ten,  and  arrived  there  in  less  than  three 
hours;  patrolled  the  streets,  viewing  the  Crescent,  Queens-square 
and  Parade,  Paragon-row,  Pump-room ;  saw  there  a  numerous 
company,  walking,  standing ;  playing  whist  the  only  fashionable 
game.  This  city  in  gratitude  to  Beau  Nash,  master  of  ceremonies, 
had  his  picture  taken  at  full  length,  and  put  up  in  the  pump-room  ; 
and  unluckily  between  small  busts  of  the  great  Newton  and  Mr. 
Pope,  which  Lord  Chesterfield  seeing,  uttered  these  stanzas,  viz.": 

"  Immortal  Newton  never  spoke 

More  truth  than  here  you'll  find  ; 
Nor  Pope  himself  e'er  penned  a  joke 

Severer  on  mankind  : 
The  picture  placed  the  busts  between, 

Adds  to  the  satire's  strength'; 
Wisdom  and  wit  are  little  seen, 

But  folly  at  full  length." 

TO  NATHAN  GOODALE,  ESQ.,  SALEM,  N.  E. 

Bristol,  Jan.  10,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  am  obliged  for  the  information  contained  in  your  letter  brought 
me  by  Capt.  Carpenter,  relative  to  my  friends  and  acquaintances. 


230  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  members  of  the  Monday  night  club  are 
permitted  to  assemble  without  interruption.  I  wish  the  continuance 
of  it,  and  an  increase  to  each  member  of  every  valuable  enjoyment, 
and  thank  them  for  their  kind  remembrance  of  me. 

You  may,  if  you  please,  acquaint  Mrs.  Sargent,  with  my  com 
pliments,  that  being  about  to  write  Col.  Browne,  I  shall  inform  him 
of  what  you  mention  concerning  her.  You  write  me  that  as  I  am 
a  friend  to  America,  I  shall  always  find  friends  there ;  that  I  ac 
knowledge  is  a  most  desirable  circumstance,  but  there  are  other 
considerations  necessary  to  make  any  spot  on  earth  an  object  wor 
thy  of  any  one's  wish  to  reside  in.  My  compliments  to  Mrs. 
Goodale  and  Miss  Higginson,  and  your  next  neighbors,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cabot. 

Yours,  etc., 

S.  CUR  WEN. 


TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  SALEM,  N.  E. 

Bristol,  Jan.  10,  1780. 
BEAR  SIR  : 

I  commence  writing,  my  worthy  friend,  without  knowing  on  what 
subject  or  subjects,  as  there  is  scarce  any  that  party  prejudice  may 
not  wrongly  interpret  and  draw  unfavorable  inferences  from  ;  besides 
the  governing  powers  in  times  of  war,  tumult  and  confusion  assume 
a  liberty  to  dispense  with  the  settled  regulations  of  the  state  in 
peaceable  times,  and  among  other  precautions  open  letters  from 
foreign  parts.  I  fear  you  are  in  the  same  predicament ;  perhaps  it 
may  be  right,  but  it  is  a  sad  and  mortifying  restraint  on  distant 
friends,  and  prevents  that  agreeable  intercourse,  which  supports 
friendship  and  adds  to  the  enjoyments  of  life. 

With  regard  to  my  peculiar  situation,  connection  and  senti 
ments,  I  must  be  reserved ;  in  general  my  condition  is  comfortable, 
although  in  England  it  requires  as  many  hundreds  as  I  can  realize 
scores  of  pounds.  Some  people  who  came  from  your  side  of  the 
Atlantic  affect  to  prefer  this  country  to  their  own,  whether  it  be 
from  affectation  or  a  real  preference,  I  pretend  not  to  determine; 
pour  moi,  I  wish  for  nothing  more  than  peace  and  to  return  thither ; 
no  approaches  to  the  former  I  can  as  yet  perceive. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  231 

A  few  weeks  since  we  heard  of  John  Adams  and  Francis 
Dana's  arrival  at  Paris  from  the  Congress :  little  good  fruit,  how 
ever,  is  to  be  expected  unless  one  or  other  of  the  parties  are  dis 
posed  to  recede  from  their  pretensions,  which  Great  Britain  seems 
not  at  all  inclined  to  at  present.  For  my  native  country  I  feel  a 
filial  fondness ;  her  follies  I  lament,  her  misfortunes  I  pity ;  her 
good  I  ardently  wish,  and  to  be  restored  to  her  embraces  is  the 
warmest  of  my  desires.  This  country  is,  or  might  be,  a  paradise 
of  delights  to  those  who  enjoy  a  full  purse,  and  are  by  education 
and  habit  formed  to  relish  its  delights,  amusements  and  pursuits ; 
but  for  me  America  is  good  enough. 

I  was  going  on,  having  forgot  to  tell  you  that  this  is  designed 
to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  two  last  agreeable  favors,  for  which 
I  acknowledge  myself  indebted  to  you  in  no  less  a  sum  than  ten  thou 
sand  thanks;  great  as  this  sum  is,  I  am  rich  in  them,  sincere  ones 
too  ;  but  I  am  not  likely  to  lessen  my  capital  from  the  demands  of  my 
American  friends,  you  being  one  of  the  very  few,  to  whom  in  the 
epistolary  way  I  owe  any  debts.  Ten  letters  from  Salem  are  all  I 
can  boast  in  the  course  of  almost  five  years,  when  scarce  a  coun 
tryman  of  ours  but  can  count  as  many  yearly.  My  complaints  on 
this  head  have  proved  fruitless  and  vain,  and  have  more  than  half 
determined  me  to  suffer  myself  to  be  forgotten  abroad,  with  a  very 
few  exceptions;  and  render  measure  for  measure,  and  repay 
silence  by  contempt.  But  the  tender  feelings  of  the  heart  are  not 
to  be  wholly  overcome ;  what  was  anger  and  resentment,  is  by 
age,  the  endurance  of  evils  ;  and,  perhaps,  a  better  way  of  think 
ing,  changed  into  grief:  can  you  then  wonder,  situated  as  I  am,  at 
my  anxiety  and  distress  ?  I  do  assure  you  the  silence  and  neglect 
on  the  part  of  my  friends  and  acquaintances,  has,  more  than  banish 
ment,  oppressed  my  mind  ;  the  latter  is  not  a  light  burden,  and 
when  added  to  the  former,  exceeds  my  religion  and  philosophy  to 
support.  The  heart  of  old  age,  if  not  rendered  callous  by  vicious 
indulgences,  is  tender  as  in  infancy ;  but,  to  quit  the  plaintive  strain, 
— You  tell  me  I  forget  de  Repub.,  &c.  :  I  confess  1  am  like  poor 
Faithful  in  Pilgrim's  Progress,  ever  almost  in  the  slough  of  despair; 
would  it  were  in  your  power  to  dart  a  ray  of  hope  into  my  gloomy 
mind.  I  thank  my  countrymen  for  the  less  unfavorable  opinion 
conceived  of  me  than  some  others.  For  my  part,  I  -would  eheer- 


232  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

fully  promote  to  the  extent  of  my  power  the  good  of  individuals, 
and  that  of  the  public  ;  but  with  regard  to  the  latter,  I  cannot  give 
my  approbation  to  their  whole  system  of  politics.  The  present 
circumstances  of  affairs  do  not  allow  me  to  indulge  one  wish  to 
return,  till  they  are  a  little  better  settled  ;  and  can  easily  imagine 
the  evils  you  suggest,  which,  at  my  time  of  life,  would  quickly 
overwhelm  my  poor  crazy  bark ;  hardly  able  to  keep  above  water 
even  where  the  waves  are  not  rough.  Please  remember  my  kind 
est  regards  to  all  my  acquaintance ;  particularly  the  members  of 
the  Monday  night  club,  which  I  learn  still  subsists ;  I  wish  its 
continuance  and  increase  of  worthy  members.  I  fear  my  worthy 
old  friend,  Mr.  McGilchrist,  has  forgotten  me;  apropos,  it  has  been 
my  good  fortune  for  a  course  of  three  winters  passed  in  Exeter,  to 
find  a  worthy  and  intimate  friend,  who,  in  his  moral,  religious,  and 
philosophical  character,  bears  the  nearest  resemblance  to  my  said 
Salem  friend.  To  him  I  am  indebted  for  much  useful  information 
and  entertainment;  for -his  and  the  sake  of  a  very  few,  1  left  that 
quarter  with  reluctance.  It  has  been  frequently  in  my  thoughts 
to  make  a  collection  of  the  best  pieces  that  the  press  affords,  for  the 
benefit  of  my  friends  and  myself;  but  that  depends  on  contingencies. 
The  execution  of  that,  and  some  other  designs  I  have  had  in  my 
mind  and  view,  must  be  deferred,  I  fear,  to  a  distant  day. 

Our  friends  are  scattered  all  over  the  face  of  the  land,  and  if 
soon  to  be  summoned  to  appear  before  the  last  tribunal,  they  might 
truly  be  said  to  be  brought  from  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south. 
Present  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Pynchon  and  all  your  family. 
Sincerely  wishing  you  a  healthy  body,  quiet  mind,  and  a  full  purse, 
which  I  think  comprehends  all  earthly  blessings, 

I  am,  with  perfect  esteem,  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jan.  13.  Capt.  Carpenter,  young  Jonathan  Gardner,  both  of 
Salem,  and  a  Mr.  Leavitt,  having  arrived  in  a  cartel  ship  from 
Boston,  dined  with  me,  and  passed  the  afternoon  and  evening. 

Jan.  20.  Took  tea  with  Mrs.  Gardner,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Randolph,  brother  of  the  Congress  member,  though  of  contrary 
political  principles. 

Jan.  30.     Charles's  martyrdom  ;  attended  service  in  cathedral ; 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  233 

young  Camplin  preached  a  serious  discourse  from  "Blessed  are 
the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord."  He  modestly  and  laudably  avoided 
any  reference  to  the  day.  I  could  not  fail  to  notice  the  difference 
between  this  mock  solemnity  here  and  at  Exeter  : — here,  no  mayor 
nor  corporation  attended  in  a  procession  of  city  officers,  with  their 
staves  covered  with  black,  nor  was  the  pulpit  in  the  same  grim 
color.  The  service  was  read,  with  singing,  as  on  other  church 
holidays;  assembly  of  an  indifferent  appearance,  far  from  numer 
ous. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  COWBRIDGE,  WALES. 

Bristol,  Feb.  10,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Perhaps  it  may  amuse  you  to  be  made  acquainted  with  a  few 
particulars  relating  to  our  own  country  and  town,  that  may  not 
have  come  to  your  knowledge.  About  six  weeks  ago  a  prize  ship 
from  Boston  arrived  here  with  thirty-six  passengers,  who  were 
suffered  to  depart,  under  verbal  promise  to  return  back  again  to 
captivity  if  this  government  should  not  acknowledge  the  ship  to  be 
a  cartel,  and  send  back  an  equal  number  of  Americans  to  Boston 
or  to  France.  In  the  event,  no  notice  is  taken  of  them,  as  might 
be  expected  ;  the  ship  is  claimed,  and  as  yet  subjudice,  though  it  is. 
thought  it  will  be  determined  in  favor  of  the  claimants.  The 
American  owner  is  a  Mr.  Mitchell,  Irish  by  birth,  American  in 
principle  and  alliance,  being  married  to  a  daughter  of  George 
Bethune.  The  master,  a  Mr.  Carpenter,  who  you  know  married 
the  youngest  of  the  Gerrishes,  and  tried  to  be  a  loyalist  (applying, 
unsuccessfully,  however,  for  a  pension)  about  two  years  since, 
whilst  he  resided  with  his  wife  at  Brompton-row ;  on  his  rejection 
he  took  wit  in  his  anger  and  returned  to  Salem.  From  him  and 
young  Gardner,  only  son  of  Jonathan  Gardner,  Jr.,  I  have  obtained 
the  annexed  list  of  prices,  which,  instead  of  a  score  of  arguments, 
may  prove  the  low  condition  of  Congressional  credit,  and  show  the 
exorbitant  rate  of  the  useful  articles  of  life,  and  perhaps  their 
scarcity.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  that  whilst  some  are  wallowing 
in  undeserved  wealth  that  plunder  and  rapine  have  thrown  into 
their  hands,  the  wisest,  most  peaceable,  and  most  deserving,  such 
as  you  and  I  know,  are  now  suffering  want,  accompanied  by  many 

30 


234  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

indignities  that  a  licentious,  lawless  people  can  pour  forth  upon 
them. 

Those  who  five  years  ago  were  the  "  meaner  people"  are  now, 
by  a  strange  revolution,  become  almost  the  only  men  of  power, 
riches  and  influence ;  those  who,  on  the  contrary,  were  leaders  and 
in  the  highest  line  of  life,  are  glad  at  this  time  to  be  unknown  and 
unnoticed  to  escape  insult  and  plunder,  the  wretched  condition  of 
all  who  are  not  violent,  and  adopters  of  republican  principles.   The 
Cabots  of  Beverly,  who,  you  know,  had  but  five  years  ago  a  very 
moderate  share  of  property,  are  now  said  to  be  by  far  the  most 
wealthy  in  New  England;  Hasket  Derby  claims  the  second  place 
in  the  list,  and     ******     puts  in  for  a  place  amongst 
the  first  three ;  Mr.  Goodale,  by  agency  concerns  in  privateers  and 
buying  shares,  counts  almost  as  many  pounds  as  most  of  his  neigh 
bors.   The  following  are  persons  of  the  most  eminence  for  business 
in  Salem,  as  far  as  my  memory  serves,  viz. :  Hasket  Derby,  Wil 
liam  Pickman,  George  Crowninshield,  William  Vans,  Capt.  Harra- 
den,  a  brave  and  notable  privateer  captain,  Joseph  Henfield,  Capt. 
Silsbee,  Samuel  Gardner,  Joseph  and  Joshua  Grafton's  sons,  Fran 
cis  Clarke,  Capt.  George  Dodge's  youngest  sons,  Jos.  One.   E.  H. 
Derby's  province  tax  is  £  11,000,  and  his  neighbors  complain  he  is 
not  half  taxed.     The  immensely  large  nominal  sums  which  some 
are  said  to  be  worth,  shrink  into  diminutive  bulk  when  measured 
by  the  European  standard  of  gold  and  silver.     In  New  England  a 
dollar  bill  is  worth  only  2  f  of  an  English  halfpenny.     Pins  at  Is. 
a  piece,  needles  at  2s.,  beef  2s.  6d.,  veal  2s.,  mutton  and  lamb 
Is.  6d.,  butter  6s.  per  lb.,  rum  eight  dollars  per  gallon,  molasses 
two  dollars,  brown  sugar  10s.  per  lb.,  loaf  sugar  15s.,  Bohea  tea 
seven  dollars  per  lb.,  coffee  five  dollars,  Irish  pork  sixty  dollars  per 
barrel,  lemons  3s.  apiece,  wood  twenty  dollars  a  cord,  ordinary 
French  cloth  twenty-two  dollars  a  yard,  hose  nine  dollars  a  pair. 
A  suit  of  clothes  which  cost  five  guineas  here,  would  cost  five 
hundred  dollars  in  Boston.  Yours,  &c. 

S.  CURWEN. 

Feb.  13.  To  the  Moravian  chapel ;  Mr.  Washington,  the  set 
tled  minister,  preached  from,  "  And  being  fashioned  as  a  man"  etc. 
The  great  point  insisted  on,  as  usual,  was,  that  the  supreme  Deity, 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  235 

the  God  and  Father  of  all,  or  to  use  their  own  language,  "  the  eter 
nal  Jehovah.,  suffered  death  actually,  truly  and  properly,  in  the  per 
son  of  Christ,  or  was  the  real  suffering,  dying  being,  who  expired  on 
the  cross"  In  the  course  of  these  extemporaneous  or  memoriter 
effusions,  such  terms  and  expressions  were  used  that  made  my  blood 
more  than  once  almost  forsake  its  channels ;  in  truth,  I  was  as 
tonished  and  hurt  to  an  extreme  degree,  and  it  has  caused  me  to 
resolve  on  forsaking  this  and  all  assemblies  of  like  over-zealous 
orthodox  tenets. 

Feb.  16.  To  the  «  Wells"  over  St.  Vincent's  through  Clifton, 
by  Sir  William  Draper's ;  from  thence  across  Brandon  hill  to  Judge 
Sewall's,  where  drank  tea  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barnes, 
Miss  Arbuthnot,  their  niece,  and  Miss  Russell. 

Feb.  29.  Took  a  walk  and  went  on  'change  with  Mr.  Erving ; 
then  a  passage  in  the  Bath  coach  at  four  o'clock,  and  at  half  past 
six  alighted  at  the  "  Three  Tuns  inn  ;"  from  thence  on  foot  to  the 
coffee-house  in  Orange-grove,  where  I  remained  for  two  hours 
reading  papers,  drinking  coffee,  etc.,  and  received  information  from 
John  Boylston,  my  countryman,  that  my  friend  Isaac  Smith,  for 
whose  sake  I  took  this  ramble,  was  to  leave  at  nine  to-morrow  for 
Bristol ;  so  I  bespoke  a  seat  in  the  same  stage.  Passed  two  hours 
in  the  streets  and  Abbey-square  among  the  crowd — ears  entertained 
by  musketry  discharged  from  the  abbey  leads  and  ringing  of  bells, 
to  celebrate  Sir  G.  Rodney's  victory  over  Don  Langara  ; — retired 
to  the  inn,  supped  and  lodged.  Gov.  Hutchinson's  son  William 
died  on  the  20th  instant. 

Bath,  March  1.  After  breakfast  I  entered  the  carriage  and  de 
parted  with  my  friend  Smith,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  alighted  at  the 
White  Hart,  Bristol.  Mr.  Smith  dined  with  me  ;  he  having  engaged 
himself  to  Mr.  Wright  and  lady,  who  were  this  afternoon  to  pay 
a  visit  at  Mr.  Erving's,  my  friend  and  I  joined  company  to  tea ;  at 
eight  o'clock  with  the  family  took  a  turn  in  Queen's-square,  to 
view  the  illuminations,  which  were  brilliant,  in  honor  of  Sir  G. 
Rodney's  victory  of  16th  January. 

March  4.  By  invitation  dined  at  Judge  Sewall's  with  Mr. 
Smith,  R.  and  N.  Lechmere,  Col.  Oliver,  Mr.  Simpson,  Mr.  Fran 
cis  Waldo  and  Mr.  Vassal. 

March  5.     Engaged  at  tea  to  partake  of  Mrs.  Bearpacker's 


236  JOURNAL  AND  LETTERS.          .[1780. 

"  mothering  cake."  It  is  a  custom  here  on  mid-lent  Sunday  for  a 
cake  to  be  brought  to  mothers,  in  conformity  to  which  custom  some 
females  make  a  large  one  and  present  it  to  their  acquaintance. 
This  custom  continues  in  Gloucestershire,  and  is  said  to  be  derived 
from  Joseph's  making  himself  known  to  his  brethren. 

March  6.     Dined  at  Mr.  F.  Waldo's  with  Mr.  Simpson,  his 
nephew,  and  young  Borland. 

TO  MR.  LAKIN,  BIRMINGHAM. 

Bristol,  March  6,  1780. 
DEAR  SIRI 

You  are  pleased  to  compliment  me  on  my  knowledge  of  the 
state  of  affairs  in  America,  but  really,  should  I  attempt  a  narrative  of 
its  present  political  and  commercial  condition,  I  fear  it  would  be  too 
imperfect  to  afford  you  much  useful  information.  So  great  a  rev 
olution  in  both  respects  has  taken  place  since  my  departure,  so  dif 
ferent  is  the  channel  of  business,  so  little  the  concerns  that  I  have 
amongst  the  commercial  people  here,  and  so  slender  my  advices 
about  them,  being  chiefly  newspaper  intelligence,  which  you  know 
is  not  always  the  word  of  Apollo,  that  it  would  be  rashness  to  com 
mit  to  paper  my  undigested  thoughts  on  those  subjects.  I  strongly 
suspect  the  independency  of  America,  or  a  system  of  political  and 
civil  government,  will  sooner  or  later  be  established  there,  to  the 
utter  overthrow  of  the  navigation  act  of  Charles  II.,  and  the  com 
merce  of  Great  Britain  with  the  American  colonies  and  her  other 
foreign  dominions,  if  she  will  be  powerful  enough  to  retain  any, 
which  I  fear ;  in  this  case  it  may  be  easily  discerned  that  by  open 
ing  new  channels,  trade  will  assume  a  new  face,  and  be  conducted 
by  very  different  people,  and  on  quite  different  principles. 

You  propose  undertaking  a  journey  here,  and  I  assure  you  of  a 
cordial  welcome  to  my  lodgings,  to  pass  your  time  while  here  ;  and 
as  conversation  admits  of  less  restraint  than  writing,  I  shall  with 
the  greatest  cheerfulness  communicate  as  much  as  lies  within  the 
compass  of  my  knowledge  relating  to  the  subject  of  your  inquiry. 
I  wish  the  benefit  you  might  derive  from  my  information  would 
bear  any  proportion  to  the  pleasure  I  shall  receive  in  communi 
cating  ;  for  you  can  scarce  be  more  obliging  than  to  afford  me  an 
occasion  of  paying  in  person  my  respects  to  him  for  whose  former 


1780.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  237 

civilities  I  am  indebted  more  than  is  in  my  power  at  present  to  dis 
charge.  To  your  kind  inquiry  I  am  happy  to  answer,  my  friends, 
far  removed  from  the  seat  of  war,  escape  descents  on  their  coasts 
and  inroads  on  their  frontiers,  which  their  brethren  in  the  southern 
colonies  unhappily  do  not.  A  more  particular  relation  I  must  de 
fer  to  a  personal  interview. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

March  11.  Dined  at  Mr.  Erving's  with  two  daughters  of  a 
Mr.  Ewen,  who  had  been  residents  on  Rhode  Island,  but  driven  off 
by  civil  storm ;  and  being  told  that  Capt.  and  Mrs.  Fenton  with 
myself,  intended  to  dine  with  them  at  Brislington,  expressed  their 
pleasure  to  see  us  next  Monday. 

March  14.  Took  tea  at  Judge  Sewall's  ;  company  Mr.  Simp 
son,  Mr.  F.  Waldo,  Mr.  Faneuil  and  lady,  and  Miss  Russell. 

April  14.  Visited  by  Nathaniel  Coffin  and  R.  Hallowell ; 
meeting  widow  Borland's  eldest  son  John,  recognized  each  other, 
made  mutual  compliments  and  invitations. 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  SALEM,  N.  E. 

Bristol,  April  19,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  bearer,  being  acquainted  with  the  state  of  our  political  af 
fairs,  will  communicate  more  than  would  be  prudent  for  me  to 
commit  to  paper,  should  I  be  disposed  to  dabble  in  that  dangerous 
business,  politics.  A  tedious,  uniformly  insipid  inactivity  soon  ren 
ders  every  place  displeasing  ;  but  my  removal  from  hence  depends 
on  contingencies  not  to  be  foreseen.  If  I  leave,  I  shall  engage  in 
•a  week's  ramble,  and  like  the  father  of  the  faithful,  go,  not  know 
ing  whither  ;  the  world  is  all  before  me  where  to  choose  my  place 
of  rest,  hitherto  unfound,  and  with  no  land  of  promike  before  me. 
******* 

Perhaps  it  may  be  amusing  to  you  to  be  informed  of  the  num 
ber  of  Americans  in  Bristol,  who  are  comprised  in  the  following 
list  :— 

Col.  Oliver  and  six  daughters ;  Mr.  R.  Lechmere,  his  brother 
Nicholas,  wife  and  two  daughters;  Mr.  John  Vassal,  wife  and 


238  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

niece,  Miss  Davis ;  Mr.  Barnes,  wife  and  niece  ;  Miss  Arbuthnot ; 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Coffin,  wife  and  family ;  Mr.  Robert  Hallowell,  wife 
and  children ;  Judge  Sewall,  wife,  sister,  and  two  sons ;  Samuel 
Sewall  with  his  kinsman,  Mr.  Faneuil,  and  wife ;  Mr.  Francis 
Waldo  and  Mr.  Simpson,  together  with  Mrs.  Borland,  a  son 
and  three  daughters.  I  send  this  by  young  Gardner,  who  with 
Mr.  Leavitt  and  Capt.  Carpenter  leaves  us  to-morrow,  arid  will 
shift  for  their  passage  to  America  as  they  can. 

Very  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  MR.  RICHARD  WARD,  SALEM,  N.  E. 

Bristol,  April  19,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  two  favors  of  the  5th  and  12th  of  November  are  at  hand. 
You  say,  that  "  to  the  many  we  have  written  you,  we  have  re 
ceived  no  answer  ;"  it  is  not  a  little  unaccountable,  that  of  many 
not  one  should  have  arrived  to  me  before  these  two  ;  for  that  in 
truth  is  the  case.  That  neither  you  nor  my  niece  should  in  the 
course  of  five  years  take  the  least  notice  of  her  only  uncle,  was  in 
my  judgment  a  singular  instance  of  forgetfulness ;  that  you  was  a 
partisan  I  well  knew,  though  not  in  the  rankest  degree  I  hope ; 
and  it  is  natural  that  she  should  be  biassed  to  the  side  you  took, 
and  I  thus  accounted  for  the  dead  silence  through  the  long  interval 
between  my  departure  and  the  receipt  of  yours ;  but  your  declara 
tion  has  explained  the  difficulty,  and  I  find,  greatly  to  my  satisfac 
tion,  that  other  causes  than  those  I  suggested  to  myself  have 
prevented  my  receiving  those  instances  of  notice  and  regard  which 
your  relation  to  me  demanded.  That  I  find  no  acknowledgment 
in  yours  of  the  receipt  of  even  one  of  the  many  sent  to  my  niece 
and  you,  is  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way. 

The  Irish,  availing  themselves  of  the  embarrassment  of  Great 
Britain,  have  got  an  enlargement  of  privileges,  and  talk  of  making 
further  demands.  That  the  war  is  at  a  distance  from  your  own 
doors,  the  melancholy  reports  from  the  southward  afford  you  the 
strongest  reasons  for  daily  thanks  ;  may  it  not  be  your  misfortune 
in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  experience  the  sufferings,  ravages, 
carnage  and  devastation  of  her  sister  southern  colonies. 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  239 

Absence  from  all  I  hold  dear  on  earth  is  an  evil,  and  the  pecu 
liar  condition  I  am  in,  increases  its  severity ;  but  I  endeavor  to 
muster  my  whole  stock  of  religion  and  philosophy,  and  with  the 
united  aid  of  both,  and  a  few  amusements^  life  is  tolerable.  I 
cannot  prevail  with  myself  to  quit  a  peaceful  region,  and  attempt 
a  passage  across  the  Atlantic  during  this  state  of  turmoil ;  should  I 
choose  a  place  to  reside  in  on  the  western  side  of  the  globe,  Halifax 
would  not  be  the  spot ;  nothing  but  the  prospect  of  great  gains, 
which  reconciles  all  climates  and  people,  would  make  that  place 
in  any  degree  tolerable  ;  besides,  the  expense  of  living  is  as  extra 
vagant  as  in  England,  without  any  of  its  advantages  to  counter 
balance  their  many  inconveniences  and  evils.  I  thank  you  for  the 
expressions  of  kindness  and  good- will  from  you  both  respecting  my 
peace  of  mind.  Tell  your  son,  my  namesake,  I  shall  answer  his 
letter  soon.  With  unfeigned  regard,  your  uncle, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jlpril  24.  This  day,  five  years  are  complete  since  I  abandoned 
my  house,  estate,  effects  and  friends.  God  only  knows  whether  I 
shall  ever  be  restored  to  them,  or  they  to  me.  Party  rage,  like 
jealousy  and  superstition,  is  cruel  as  the  grave  ; — that  moderation 
is  a  crime  in  times  of  civil  confusions,  many  good,  virtuous  and 
peaceable  persons,  now  suffering  banishment  from  America,  are 
the  wretched  proofs  and  instances. — May  it  please  God  to  inspire 
with  wisdom  and  true  policy  the  principal  conductors  in  this  truly 
lamentable  war  on  both  sides  the  Atlantic,  and  give  peace  in  our 
time.  Did  I  know  how  to  emancipate  myself  from  this  constrained, 
useless,  uniform  blank  of  life,  and  enter  on  an  active  course,  I 
would  joyfully  seize  the  occasion. 

Evening  at  theatre  to  see  "  Belle's  Stratagem ;"  entertainment 
"  Waterman."  I  would  not  indulge  a  cynical,  surly  disposition, 
but  cannot  help  acknowledging  that  I  find  great  disappointment 
at  the  theatrical  performances.  Actors  fall  below  my  idea  of  just 
imitation;  to  my  seeming  they  overact,  underact,  or  contradict 
nature  ; — a  hero  is  a  bully,  a  gentleman  is  a  coxcomb,  a  coxcomb 
a  fool,  a  lady  affected,  pert  or  insipid ;  but  gamesters,  chamber 
maids,  footmen,  indeed,  the  whole  series  of  under-characters,  not 
illy  played. 


240  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

April  28.  A  lethargy  respecting  the  public  interest  has  seized 
the  people  of  this  country ;  which  the  selfish  principles,  supremely 
governing,  or  rather  tyrannizing  over  all  ranks  and  orders,  ages, 
sexes  and  conditions,  ^has  brought  on  them  ;  they  are  devoted  vic 
tims,  and  so  I  leave  them  to  their  impending  fate.  I  really  think 
that  neither  administration  nor  opposition  is  composed  of  uncommon 
characters ;  for  if  other  men  in  each  line  were  to  succeed  these  that 
now  figure  on  the  political  stage,  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same 
parts  would  be  played ;  for  in  the  corrupt  state  of  this  people, 
ministerial  conduct,  such  as  it  is,  is  necessary ;  I  do  not  say  expe 
dient,  for  the  wheels  of  government  cannot  move  an  inch  without 
money  to  grease  them.  Did  the  circumstances  of  things  admit,  I 
verily  believe  my  favorite  Lord  North,  who  I  take  to  be  one  of  the 
best  characters  in  the  whole  British  empire,  would  shine  one  of 
the  brightest  luminaries  that  ever  enlightened  the  political  hemi 
sphere. 

Walked  abroad,  and  met  one  of  my  countrymen ;  who  informed 
me  that,  by  a  packet  twenty-five  days  from  New-York,  advices 
had  been  received  that  General  Clinton,  after  two  months  from 
thence,  had  arrived  at  Georgia ;  and  had  proceeded  to  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  before  which  he  was  to  have 
opened  his  batteries  of  forty  cannon  on  the  llth  of  March;  that 
the  town  had  from  four  to  six  thousand  troops  within,  and  a  great 
plenty  of  military  and  other  stores;  that  it  was  divided  into  four 
parts  by  deep  trenches  or  canals  filled  with  water,  intersecting 
each  other  at  right  angles  ;  that  the  Americans  were  resolved  to 
dispute  the  ground  inch  by  inch;  but  party  representation  adds, 
however,  that  they  had  no  great  relish  for  a  patriotic  death. 

Afternoon  and  evening  at  Judge  Sewall's  ; — company,  Mrs. 
Long  of  Ireland,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faneuil,  Mr.  Oxnard,  with  young 
Inman  and  his  wife,  a  son  of  Ralph's,  in  the  military  line,  and  Miss 
Inman. 

May  14.  Evening  at  Lady  Huntingdon's  chapel ;  Mr.  Wills 
preached;  who  took  an  affectionate  leave,  being  about  to  depart  on 
a  converting  progress  through  South  Wales.  He  warmly  con 
tended  against  the  damnable  doctrine  of  Arianism  ;  the  professors 
of  which,  at  one  blow,  he  condemned  to  eternal  perdition.  Pity  it 
is  that  orthodoxy,  meaning  thereby  not  right,  just  thinking,  but  the 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  241 

belief  of  established  notions,  under  the  sanction  of  civil  authority, 
should  always,  in  all  cases,  and  at  all  times,  be  accompanied  with 
uncharitableness  ;  the  understood  characteristic  of  the  false  church. 

May  17.  Public  expectations  are  at  the  highest  pitch  re 
specting  the  success  of  General  Clinton,  and  the  great  advantages 
government  will  derive  from  it ;  if  it  shall  be  the  occasion,  sup 
posing  he  shall  become  possessed  of  Charleston,  of  producing  a 
reconciliation  on  generous  and  safe  terms,  my  joy  will  accompany 
the  general  acclamation. 

May  19.  Nathaniel  Coffin  is  going  to  Bath  for  his  health. 
Meeting  R.  Hallowell  in  the  street,  he  read  some  paragraphs  in  a 
letter  from  his  father  Gardiner  at  Poole,  informing  of  the  distresses 
of  our  country,  discontent  of  people  at  the  continuance  of  the 
troubles,  and  intimating  wishes  to  return  to  former  connections 
with  this  country,  wherein  I  cordially  join  ; — would  that  that  happy 
event  might  soon  take  place,  with  honor  and  safety  to  all  parties  I 

May  29.  This  being  Restoration-day,  some  houses  are  distin 
guished  by  oak  branches  in  front,  which  is  a  mark  of  attachment 
to  monarchy ;  and  by  many  of  regard  to  the  excluded  family,  at 
least  in  some  places,  as  Manchester,  Exeter,  &c. 

June  5.  This  being  the  appointed  day  for  setting  out  on  a 
tour  of  pleasure  to  the  north  by  Judge  Sewall,  Samuel  Sewall  and 
myself,  I  was  early  notified  by  a  thundering  at  the  door ;  being 
awake,  I  soon  descended,  and  found  my  friend's  eldest  son  with  a 
message,  desiring  my  immediate  presence  at  breakfast  before  de 
parture.  Complying  with  the  summons,  on  going  over,  I  found 
the  family  up,  and  all  things  in  readiness,  but  the  owner  of  the 
carriage  delayed  us  for  an  hour ;  at  length  it  arrived,  and  taking 
leave  of  our  friends,  we  set  forward  in  an  unpromising  air  ; 
the  morning  being  cloudy,  with  the  appearance  of  rain,  which 
through  the  day  came  down  in  the  form  of  a  drizzle.  At  nine,  we 
alighted  at  the  Bell  inn,  Newport,  distant  eighteen  miles ;  hence 
to  Gloucester  ;  roads  for  the  greater  part  dirty  and  bad  j  grounds 
fertile ;  farm-houses,  barns,  and  avenues  slovenly ;  fences  in  ill 
repair  and  low.  At  twelve  alighted  at  King's  Head  inn,  at  the  last 
mentioned  place ;  here  took  a  collation  5  taking  a  relay,  departed 
for  Newton.  Here  it  came  into  my  head  to  inquire  of  our  host, 
who  seemed  to  be  lazy  man,  whether  his  was  the  house  referred  to 

31 


242  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

in  Tom  Jones,  where  Sophia  Western's  muff  was  picked  up  by  her 
paramour ;  to  which  he  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  offered  to 
show  the  bed  where  it  lay ;  had  his  invitation  been  to  see  the 
charming  young  lady  herself,  I  doubt  whether  my  answer  would 
have  been  what  I  gave  him.  Here  we  stopped  no  longer  than  to 
have  fresh  horses  put  to.  Hence  to  Worcester  is  twelve  miles, 
and  over  excellent  roads  j  pleasant  hedges  and  well  cultivated 
lands  in  view. 

Worcester,  June  6.  Strolled  for  two  hours,  viewing  the  cathe 
dral  and  new  bridge,  which  latter  is  now  finishing,  and  a  beautiful 
structure.  The  new  street  leading  to  the  centre  of  the  city  on  one 
end,  and  to  the  bridge  on  the  other,  will,  when  completed,  be  a  fine 
avenue,  and  among  its  greatest  ornaments.  At  ten  departed  hence 
to  Horbrook,  eleven  miles ;  here  took  a  new  relay,  and  choosing  the 
road  through  Kidderminster,  alighted  at  Bridgenorth,  distance  from 
former  stage  sixteen  miles.  This  town  lies  in  Salop,  and  for  situa 
tion  is  most  singular,  part  being  on  a  lofty  plain,  faced  with  a  rock 
in  some  spots  nearly  perpendicular,  the  ascent  to  which  is  by  slopes 
and  steps  in  a  kind  of  serpentine  line ;  on  the  front  is  a  terrace, 
affording  a  view7  of  the  lower  town.  The  town  is  situated  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  Severn,  communicating  by  a  bridge ;  a  well 
cultivated  country  is  in  prospect  from  the  upper  part,  bounded  by 
hills  in  a  circular  line,  rising  gradually  one  beyond  another  ;  the 
lands  interspersed  with  rows,  clumps  and  forests  of  trees,  and  scat 
tered  habitations  of  farm  houses  and  gentlemen's  seats.  In  the  up 
per  town  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  castle,  destroyed  when 
Cromwell  took  the  town,  that  before  was  in  the  king's  interest ; 
one  side  or  line  of  the  wall  to  the  height  of  forty  feet  projects  fif 
teen  or  eighteen  feet,  occasioned  either  by  the  settling  of  the  ground, 
or  by  force  of  many  cannon  balls  striking  on  it  at  once.  The  ef 
fects  on  the  front  yet  appear  in  the  very  many  excavations  in  the 
stone  of  the  size  of  eighteen  and  twenty -four  pound  balls  ;  it  is 
separated  by  a  chasm  or  breach  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  wide,  and 
as  many  long  from  the  standing  part ;  thickness  six  feet.  Cement, 
not  of  hard  consistency,  has  retained  its  present  state  much  beyond 
the  memory  of  man.  Be  it  as  it  may,  the  inhabitants  are  well  sat 
isfied  it  will  continue  till  a  great  convulsion  of  nature  shall  overturn 
the  great  fabric  of  the  globe  itself.  The  town  on  the  hill  has  two 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  243 

churches  exempt  from  the  bishop,  and  called  "peculiars"  under 
jurisdiction  of  the  Whitmores,  who  have  right  of  visitation  ;  also 
right  of  advowson,  and  can  exercise  all  right  of  ecclesiastical  juris 
diction  except  sacerdotal. 

After  an  en  passant  survey,  we  took  fresh  horses  and  convey 
ance,  and  set  off  for  Brosely,  distant  from  hence  eight  miles ;  to 
this  place  arrived  in  an  hour,  took  a  look  at  the  iron  bridge.  Next 
stage  Much-Wenlock,  distance  hence  twelve  miles  ;  a  pitiful  inn 
and  town,  where  we  lodged  ;  Shrewsbury,  our  last  stage,  lying  at 
twelve  miles  distance.  Here  we  visited  the  residence  of  Samuel 
Porter,  late  of  my  native  place,  Salem  ;  but  the  prima  facie  view, 
of  my  townsman's  lodgings  convinced  us  that  it  was  not  a  fit  place 
for  us  to  remain  at.  After  hearty  congratulations,  bid  him  adieu 
for  the  present,  and  returned  back  to  the  Talbot  inn,  leaving  our 
other  companions,  Samuel  Sewall  and  Samuel  Porter,  to  measure 
the  distance  through  the  fields  on  foot,  where  they  soon  arrived  af 
ter  us.  Here  we  proposed  to  fix  our  tent  for  two  or  three  days ; 
having  bespoke  dinner,  we  had  a  social  tete-a-tete,  and  after  a 
hearty  meal,  and  a  few  glasses  of  port,  took  myself  off  to  find  out 
my  other  townsman,  Capt.  Poynton,  who  was  also  become  a  resi 
dent  here,  and  whom  I  found  at  a  namesake's,  living  on  Pride  hill, 
so  called,  within  the  town.  After  tea  I  took  him  to  our  companions, 
and  all  joining  issued  forth  to  see  the  town  and  ascertain  the  ex 
pense  of  living,  which  we  found  higher  than  at  Bristol.  Shrews 
bury  is  populous,  having  several  churches ;  there  is  a  most  agree 
able  walk  of  a  circular  form  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn, 
half  a  mile  in  extent,  and  surrounded  by  lofty  trees.  There  are 
still  ruins  of  an  old  castle,  now  become  private  property  and  the 
seat  of  the  owner,  standing  on  a  lofty  eminence  and  commanding 
the  town.  There  is  also  a  large  building  intended  for  a  foundling 
hospital,  but  not  succeeding,  is  now  fitted  up  for  Spanish  prisoners, 
when  they  catch  them. 

Shrewsbury,  June  9.  We  reassumed  our  post-chaise  seats 
and  departed  from  "  proud  Salop,"  as  it  is  called,  for  having  refused 
the  offer  of  the  crown  to  make  it  a  city,  saying  "  it  is  better  to  be  a 
large  town  than  a  small  city" — leaving  our  two  townsmen  to  their 
respective  enjoyments.  However,  before  leaving  this  place,  I  must 
observe,  Mr.  Samuel  Sewall  and  myself,  with  Capt.  Poynton,  dined 


244  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

at  Samuel  Porter's  lodgings,  which  we  found  well  provided ;  and 
the  next  night,  being  the  night  preceding  the  one  to  our  departure, 
passed  at  the  "  Gullet"  inn,  the  resort  of  all  better  sort  to  hear  and 
tell  news.  During  my  stay  within,  I  heard  read  several  letters 
from  lords,  sirs,  etc.,  from  London,  with  relations  of  the  mob  that 
was  raging  there.  From  hence  to  Ellesmere,  sixteen  miles,  we  ran 
in  two  and  a  half  hours,  being  accommodated  with  fresh  horses  ; 
thence  to  Wrexham,  eleven  miles ;  respectable  in  buildings,  some 
fine  streets,  a  market  and  well  built  church,  erected  about  the  time 
of  the  reformation ;  its  tower  superbly  decorated  in  Gothic  style. 
Next  stage  was  Chester,  at  eleven  miles  distance ;  stopped  at  the 
Golden  Talbot  in  Eastgate-street,  house  of  best  repute,  large,  with 
a  handsome  coffee-room,  ball  and  drawing  rooms,  it  being  the  as 
sembly  house.  This  small  city  is  singularly  circumstanced,  having 
a  delightful  terrace  walk  on  top  of  walls  encompassing  it  round,  in 
length  near  two  miles,  defended  with  a  breastwork  or  parapet 
about  three  feet  high  ;  has  no  guns  nor  embrasures,  nor  platforms 
for  unevenness  of  surface  within  the  walls  and  adjoining  grass  ;  the 
walk  in  some  places  is  but  a  few  feet  above  the  level  within,  and 
others  as  high  as  tops  of  chimneys.  On  the  quarter  bounded  by 
the  river  Dee  it  is  sixty  or  eighty  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water ; 
on  one  or  two  streets  is  a  covered  way  or  walk  raised  one  story 
above  the  street  called  the  rows ;  the  ascent  is  by  many  flights  of 
steps  from  the  streets,  rendering  it  very  convenient  to  foot  passen 
gers,  especially  in  foul  weather ;  these  are  filled  with  shops  and 
stores  above  and  below ;  the  passage  ways  are  paved  with  flags, 
the  breadth  twelve  to  fifteen  feet.  This  city  has  the  appearance 
of  antiquity,  though  there  are  many  very  genteel,  tasty,  and  noble 
houses  ;  I  should  judge  the  number  between  two  and  three  thou 
sand,  inhabitants  about  seventeen  thousand.  Just  within  the  walls 
is  a  most  beautiful  race-ground.  I  forgot  to  mention  the  cathedral, 
of  no  great  extent  and  rather  indifferent  appearance  ;  it  was  how 
ever  in  decent  repair,  but  contained  nothing  remarkable. 

Having  taken  a  view  of  the  whole  place,  we  took  leave  of  Ches 
ter,  designing  for  Manchester  by  way  of  Duke  of  Bridgewater's 
canal  from  Warrington  ;  on  that  route  our  first  stage  was  Fords- 
ham,  an  indifferent  small  village,  distance  ten  miles.  The  keeper 
of  the  inn  an  Irishman,  not  wanting  in  the  characteristic  mark  of 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  245 

that  country,  a  bold  unblushing  face  ;  after  a  plausible  commenda 
tion  of  his  carriages  and  horses,  he  gave  us  a  sorry  post-chaise  and 
a  pair  of  miserable  cattle ;  he  yet  had  the  impudence  to  apply  to 
us  to  procure  the  land  from  Warrington  to  this  paltry  village  to  be 
made  a  turnpike,  saying  it  would  be  pounds  in  his  pocket,  which 
I  really  doubt.  He  mistook  us  for  parliament-men.  From  hence 
to  Warrington  ten  miles ;  the  inn,  the  "  Red  Lion"  tolerable. 
Streets  narrow,  dirty,  and  ill  paved  ;  like  many  other  towns,  with 
a  gutter  running  through  the  middle,  rendering  it  inconvenient 
passing  streets.  This  town  abounds  in  dissenters,  and  has  an  aca 
demy  for  young  preachers  of  that  persuasion.  Governor  Hutchin- 
son  was  to  have  been  buried  at  Brompton  yesterday. 

Warrington,  June  11.  Set  off  on  foot  for  London  bridge,  so 
called  from  its  lying  in  the  great  London  road  across  the  canal,  at 
two  miles'  distance  herefrom.  This  spot  is  a  common  rendezvous 
whither  flock  all  passengers  whom  curiosity  prompts,  or  business 
urges,  to  sail  up  to  Manchester,  at  twenty  miles'  distance ;  or  down  to 
the  locks  at  Runcorn,  on  the  other  hand,  ten  miles  distant ;  or  across 
the  Mersey  to  Liverpool,  this  being  the  common  route.  Two  boats 
daily  carry  passengers  up  and  down.  Diverted  from  our  intended 
route,  Manchester,  we  turned  our  course  to  a  contrary  direction,  sail 
ing  down  to  Runcorn  to  view  the  celebrated  locks  ;  passed  in  our 
passage  under  sixteen  bridges  laid  across  the  canal,  consisting  of 
one  brick  arch  of  eighteen  to  twenty-two  feet  span,  and  twelve 
feet  high.  Of  these  we  were  told  there  are  sixty-four ;  probable 
enough,  including  the  branches  and  marine  cut,  for  Judge  Oliver 
counted  on  the  grand  canal  forty-eight.  The  boats  for  passengers 
are  fifty  feet  long  and  fifteen  wide,  and  will  hold  a  hundred  per 
sons.  Arrived  at  Runcorn  in  two  hours,  and  supped  at  "  White 
Hart"  inn.  Samuel  Sewall  and  myself  having  amused  ourselves 
for  two  hours  in  seeing  a  barge  enter  from  the  river  Mersey 
into  the  first  lock  and  through  to  the  canal,  we  returned  back 
and  met  our  companion  the  judge,  whose  curiosity  did  not  stim 
ulate  him  to  stay  so  long  in  the  cold  as  ours  did  ;  and  found  the 
inn  crowded  with  great  numbers  of  jolly  lads  and  lasses,  met 
to  congratulate  our  landlady's  daughter,  lately  married  and  just 
returned  home,  after  a  week's  absence.  The  concluding  scene  of 
Sunday,  being  considered  in  England  as  a  relief  from  labor,  is 


246  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

generally  spent  in  ale-houses  by  the  middling  and  lower  sorts,  in 
merry-making. 

Rimcorn,  June  12.  Walked  abroad,  shaping  my  course  to 
church-yard,  where  I  saw  the  curate  and  his  clerk ;  name  of  former 
was  Sewell.  I  returned  by  the  way  I  went,  acquainting  my  com 
panions,  who  had  arrived  before  me,  of  the  adventures.  They 
regretted  my  neglect  in  making  no  inquiry,  nor  informing  the 
curate  of  their  name ;  but  I  was  loth  to  incur  the  imputation  of 
impertinence  which  he  justly  might  have  made,  in  instituting  inqui 
ries  about  such  matters  as  people  of  this  country  are  shy  about 
communicating  to  strangers.  At  eleven  o'clock  reshipped  our 
selves  on  board  same  barge,  and  returned  back  to  whence  we  came, 
where,  finding  a  chaise  ready  for  Liverpool,  we  again  diverged 
from  our  right-line  course,  Manchester,  and  struck  off  for  that 
town,  twenty  miles  distant ;  returning  back  to  Warrington,  pro 
ceeded  to  Prescott,  at  ten  miles'  distance,  where  took  a  relay. 
This  town  is  noted  for  coal-pits  and  watch  movements;  from  the 
former  Liverpool  is  principally  supplied  by  wagons. 

Entered  the  city  of  Liverpool,  so  celebrated  for  its  commercial 
character ;  houses  by  a  great  majority  in  middling  and  lower 
style,  few  rising  above  that  mark  ;  streets  long,  narrow,  crooked, 
and  dirty  in  an  eminent  degree.  During  our  short  abode  here,  we 
scarcely  saw  a  well-dressed  person,  nor  half  a  dozen  gentlemen's 
carriages ;  few  of  the  shops  appear  so  well  as  in  other  great  towns; 
dress  and  looks  more  like  the  inhabitants  of  Wapping,  Shadwel], 
and  Rotherhithe,  than  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Exchange,  or 
any  part  of  London  above  the  Tower.  The  whole  complexion 
nautical,  and  so  infinitely  below  all  our  expectations,  that  nought 
but  the  thoughts  of  the  few  hours  we  had  to  pass  here  rendered  it 
tolerable.  The  docks  however  are  stupendously  grand ;  the  inner 
one,  called  Town  Dock,  lying  in  the  centre  of  it,  and  filled  with 
vessels  exhibiting  a  forest  of  masts ;  besides  this,  are  three  very 
large  ones  lying  in  front  of  the  city,  communicating  with  each 
other  by  flood-gates,  intermixed  with  dry  ones  for  repairing.  The 
lower  or  new  one  has  a  fine  wide  quay  on  its  outer  side,  an  agreea 
ble  walk  being  lined  with  trees  on  either  hand  ;  below  this,  on  the 
river,  is  now  building,  nearly  finished,  a  circular  battery  with 
embrasures  for  thirty  cannon.  Parade  and  barracks  are  in  hand, 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  247 

and  when  completed  will  afford  a  charming  walk  and  prospect  if 
allowed  to  the  inhabitants. 

Liverpool,  June  12.  Taking  a  circuitous  ramble  through  this? 
to  us,  disgustful  place,  returned  to  inn,  paid  our  bill,  and  entered 
the  carriage  we  came  in,  which  the  driver  and  owner  would  fain, 
but  for  Judge  and  Samuel  Sewall's  resolution,  have  jockeyed  us 
out  of,  designing  craftily  to  shift  us  off  to  the  common  stage ;  but 
his  plan  being  disappointed,  we  were  replaced  in  our  own  carriage, 
with  no  company  but  ourselves.  Bidding  adieu  to  Liverpool,  we 
set  forward  to  Prescott,  where  we  took  a  relay  and  proceeded  to 
Warrington;  here  we  were  detained  two  hours,  waiting  the  arrival 
of  boats.  At  two  o'clock  we  re-entered  our  apartment,  filled  with 
fresh  passengers,  among  them  Mrs.  Dawson,  wife  of  the  governor 
of  the  Isle  of  Man,  returning  from  an  excursion  ;  she  \vas  a  native 
of  Nova  Scotia,  and  daughter  of  a  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  had 
resided  in  Boston.  Mr.  Corbet,  an  attorney  of  Brosely,  also  added 
no  inconsiderable  pleasure  by  his  social  turn  while  sailing  on  an 
unruffled  surface  through  a  finely  improved  country,  over  hills  and 
dales,  rivers  and  bridges  ;  in  five  hours  we  arrived  safely  at  Man 
chester.  Examined  the  ingenious  machinery  and  operations  of 
calico-printing.  Took  carriage  for  Castleton  at  the  peak  of  Derby, 
passing  through  Stockport  and  Disley.  The  country,  as  we  ap 
proached  the  peak,  hilly.  By  persuasion  the  judge  reluctantly 
walked  out  to  the  cave  at  Castleton,  being  desirous  to  defer  it  till 
following  morning,  accompanied  by  Samuel  Sewall.  After  break 
fast,  taking  leave  of  the  vale,  we  ascended  the  hill  overlooking  the 
town ;  the  road  extends  to  the  further  end  in  a  circular  line, 
affording  a  pleasing  view  of  the  lofty  surrounding  hills  and  a  charm 
ing  vale  beneath,  diversified  with  trees,  live  hedges,  scattered  farm 
houses,  villages,  and  towers ;  the  descent  on  the  side  of  the  vale  is 
quick,  and  in  case  of  accident  hazardous.  In  ascending  Mr.  Sewall 
and  myself  chose  the  safest  and  most  expeditious  way  on  foot,  not 
indeed  the  most  comfortable,  being  surrounded  by  a  gang  of  children 
who  constantly  accompany  carriages,  that  necessarily  move  at  a 
slow  pace,  soliciting  charity  with  piteous  looks  and  accents,  which 
from  earliest  childhood  they  have  been  taught  to  frame.  At  length 
we  arrived  at  Bakewell,  fourteen  miles,  and  whilst  changing  horses 
I  visited  the  church-yard  on  an  eminence,  whence  is  a  pleasing 


248  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

view  of  the  vale,  rendered  more  so  by  its  contrast  with  the  naked, 
barren  hills  wherewith  it  is  encompassed  on  all  sides.  This  plain, 
with  scarce  a  rising  to  intercept  the  sight  for  miles,  abounds  in 
pastures,  grass  and  corn  lands  inclosed  by  live  hedges,  and  trees  in 
rows  and  clumps ;  of  the  latter  there  are  many  inclosures  of  con 
siderable  extent,  and  of  great  height  and  bulk.  Most  of  the  best 
improvements  are  on  the  Duke  of  Rutland's  estate,  who  has  a  large 
and  noble  old  mansion-house,  called  Haddon  Hall,  within  sight  of 
the  traveller. 

The  road  to  Matlock  is  an  excellent  turnpike,  through  this  de 
lightful  vale,  distance  twelve  miles ;  the  eye  is  refreshed  a  good  part 
of  the  way  with  a  sight  of  the  river  Dee,  a  gentle  stream  which 
continued  to  and  beyond  the  last  mentioned  place,  where  we  arrived 
at  twelve  o'clock.  Dismissing  the  coach,  we  took  up  our  abode  in 
this  indescribably  pleasing,  romantic  spot  for  a  few  hours — sadly 
regretting  after  leaving  it  that  we  had  not  dedicated  longer  time  to 
it.  This  cluster  of  half  a  dozen  houses,  including  tradesmen's  and 
the  large  inn  for  servants  and  short  visitants,  as  our  company,  are 
filled  with  apartments  for  the  reception  and  accommodation  of  those 
who  resort  hither  for  sake  of  bathing,  to  which  it  is  confined.  Its 
remote  situation,  (its  nearest  neighbor  on  one  hand  Bakewell  at 
ten  miles,  and  on  the  other  Derby  at  sixteen,)  separates  it,  in  a 
manner,  from  all  society.  It  is  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Dee, 
which  by  the  approach  of  the  craggy  hills  contract  to  little  more 
than  the  bed  of  the  river,  which  flows  even  to  the  foot  of  them. 
This  spot  lies  under  a  circular  range  of  hills  conforming  to  the 
course  of  the  river ;  the  side  of  this  range  is  in  spots  clothed  with 
bushes,  shrubs,  and  trees  of  various  dimensions,  interspersed  with 
bare  spots  and  shelving  rocks,  overhanging  and  threatening  instant 
fall.  In  some  the  ascent  is  quick,  in  other  parts  easy,  and  in  the 
midst  of  this  unpromising  barren  wild  are  levels  that  nature  or  in 
dustry  have  made,  now  improved  as  habitations  for  the  poor  but 
perhaps  contented  few,  whose  lot  has  cast  them  into  this  dreary 
spot ;  each  hut  being  accommodated  with  a  small  plat  for  garden 
and  yard.  To  the  spectator  on  the  other  side,  a  view  of  these 
singularly  situated  habitations  is  picturesque  and  pleasing.  Just 
below  the  houses  for  company's  residence,  on  a  plain  lying  but 
little  above  the  level  of  the  river,  are  covered  baths,  supplied  by 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  249 

streams  from  hills,  issuing  under  the  foundation  of  houses,  but  they 
have  no  distinguishing  character. 

Crossing  the  ferry,  of  a  hundred  feet,  we  found  a  serpentine 
walk,  cut  and  levelled  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  then  limited  by  a 
lead  mine,  now  working.  This  walk  is  a  delicious  retreat  in  a 
sultry  day,  the  trees  on  either  hand  forming  an  embowering  shade ; 
it  is  accommodated  with  field  seats,  from  whence  are  vistas,  two 
terminating  in  natural  cascades,  rendered,  however,  more  perfect 
by  art.  Returning  back  from  hence  to  end  of  walk,  we  began  our 
ascent  over  slopes  and  steps  to  the  summit  of  this  very  craggy  hill, 
which  is  extremely  tedious,  and  puts  the  lungs  as  well  as  muscles  to 
no  small  exercise.  About  three  fourths  the  way  up  stands  an  alcove 
to  rest  the  weary  traveller,  where  we  were  glad  to  avail  ourselves 
of  a  seat  for  awhile.  Having  at  length  gained  the  summit,  we 
thought  ourselves  fully  repaid  for  fatigue  by  the  charming  prospect, 
both  in  respect  to  its  extensiveness  and  variety.  Though  we  were 
so  exalted,  the  Fox,  as  it  is  called,  being  the  extreme  end  of  the 
range  of  mountains  on  other  side,  almost  insulated,  lifted  its  aspiring 
head  nearly  as  much  above  us  as  we  were  above  the  surface  of  the 
river  that  we  beheld  flowing  just  under  our  feet.  The  manner  in 
which  visitors  live  together  is  social  and  harmonious;  the  meals 
taken  in  a  common  room,  none  having  a  precedence ;  their  mixture 
promiscuous ;  attendance  at  a  certain  hour  notified  by  a  bell.  Hither 
also  they  repair  to  form  parties,  as  chance  or  inclination  points, 
some  to  cross  the  water  to  serpentine  walk,  to  climb  the  craggy 
cliff;  others  to  ride  on  horseback,  or  in  carriages ;  others  again  for 
cards. — Generally  after  supper  cards  or  dancing  fill  up  the  space  to 
time  of  repose.  Their  lonely  situation  contributes  not  a  little  to 
inspire  all  with  a  desire  to  promote  mutual  enjoyment,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  met  with  here  in  this  retired  solitary  retreat  in  a 
more  extensive  degree  than  in  any  other  place  of  public  resort 
through  England.  Here  are  manufactured  neatly  polished  pieces, 
in  the  fancy  way,  of  Derbyshire  spar,  stone,  etc.  Judge  Sewall 
and  myself  bought  each  a  sugar-basin  and  cream-bucket,  edged  with 
gilt  pinchbeck,  and  ladles  with  metal  handles  of  the  same,  having 
bought  an  egg-cup  and  pair  of  salts  before  at  the  Peak. 

After  dinner,  departed  over  a  fine  turnpike,  reaching  to  the 
town  of  Derby,  distant  sixteen  miles,  which  we  measured  in  two 

32 


250  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

hours,  and  alighted  at  the  "  King's  Head  "  inn.  Here  we  met  a 
singular  phenomenon  in  the  person  of  John  Tompson,  a  waiter  at 
this  inn  for  forty-three  years ;  the  fifteen  years  immediately  pre 
ceding  the  present  service  porter  to  Sir  Robert  Sutton,  and  the 
eleven  years  before  that  to  the  Earl  of  Ferrars.  He  is  now  eighty- 
seven,  and  although  somewhat  decrepit  and  stooping,  carries  no 
mark  of  age  in  his  face,  that  still  retains  a  rubicund  complexion 
without  a  single  wrinkle.  His  memory,  and  indeed  all  his  facul 
ties  appear  in  full  vigor.  The  Ferrars  family  show  a  respect  for 
their  former  servant  by  sending  a  carriage  for  him  now  and  then, 
especially  at  Christmas  and  holiday  times,  when  he  is  made  wel 
come  ;  and  "  so  late  as  last  Christmas,"  said  he,  "  I  danced  from 
eleven  to  four  o'clock  there,  and  good  music  inspires  me  with  vigor 
to  acquit  myself  to  the  satisfaction  of  my  partners,  and  makes  me, 
for  the  while,  return  to  youth." 

Derby,  June  16.  After  breakfast  we  all  repaired  with  a  con 
ductor  to  the  silk  mills,  for  which  this  town  is  famed,  these  being 
the  originals  of  this  kind  of  manufactures  in  England,  having  been 
introduced  from  Italy  in  a  surreptitious  manner  by  Sir  Thomas 
Lambe.  At  twelve  we  departed  for  Burton  on  Trent,  thence  to 
"  George"  inn,  Lichfield,  and  from  thence  to  Birmingham,  where 
stopped  at  the  "  Hen  and  Chickens,"  High-street.  Soon  after  our 
arrival,  S.  Sewall  and  myself  sallied  forth,  leaving  the  judge,  reluc 
tant  to  exercise,  to  entertain  himself.  It  seems  that  sitting  by  the 
window,  he  espied  a  countryman  of  ours,  resident  here,  passing  by ; 
on  opening  the  casement,  the  other  seeing  him,  came  over  and  re 
mained  with  him  till  our  return.  He  called  again,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Elisha  Hutchinson,  son  of  our  late  governor,  who  together 
passed  an  hour  and  then  departed  ;  the  former  inviting  us  to  dine 
next  day,  promising  to  accompany  us  to  the  manufactories. 

June  17.  Soon  after  breakfast,  Judge  Oliver,  being  the 
other  countryman  before  mentioned,  agreeably  to  last  evening's 
promise,  came  and  in  a  post-chaise  accompanied  us  to  Bolton  and 
Fothergill's  manufactory,  called  Soho,  about  two  miles  out  of 
town,  for  gun-barrel  boring  by  a  fire  engine.  From  thence  to  a 
ramble  modo  pedestri,  and  afterwards  to  Judge  Oliver's  to  dinner, 
and  at  tea  Mr.  Hutchinson  joined  us  j  in  the  evening  went  over  to 
Mr.  Lakin's. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  251 

June  18.  Soon  after  breakfast,  Judge  Sewall's  impatience  to 
be  gone  hurried  us  into  a  post-chaise,  taking  the  road  to  Wolver- 
hampton,  distant  from  hence  fourteen  miles,  passing  through  Wed- 
nesbury,  where  the  coal-pits  are  that  supply  Birmingham  with 
coals  ;  we  arrived  at  Wolverhampton  in  three  hours.  The  town 
contains  one  church,  the  parish  is  fifteen  miles  in  length,  reaching 
near  Lichfield.  It  is  a  deanery,  and  has  a  vicar  or  curate,  salary 
from  only  £20  to  <£50,  notwithstanding  the  pomposity  of  the 
churches ; — this  is  annexed  to  Windsor.  From  hence  to  ShifFnal, 
our  next  stage,  is  twelve  miles ;  thence  to  Bronckton,  a  village, 
three  miles  from  last  inn,  and  to  Brosely  three  miles,  where  we 
supped  and  lodged. 

June  19.  Mr.  Corbit,  surgeon,  coming  to  our  inn  in  order  to 
fulfil  a  promise  of  last  night,  accompanied  us  in  a  post-chaise,  pro 
cured  and  ready  against  his  arrival ;  entering  the  vehicle,  our  first 
visit  was  to  the  porcelain  manufactory,  noted  for  its  fine  Nankin 
blue  color,  no  other  colors  attempted  here  ; — lately  was  sent  off, 
as  we  were  told  by  one  of  the  burners,  a  complete  set  or  table  ser 
vice  for  the  royal  table,  a  sample  whereof  we  saw ;  from  hence 
directed  our  course  to  the  iron  bridge.  For  a  more  perfect  view 
of  this  curious  and  singular  piece  of  pontal  architecture,  we  returned 
back  as  many  miles  as  the  day's  journey  consisted  of;  and  the 
world  affords  not  its  like  :  a  bridge  perfect  in  all  its  parts,  com 
posed  entirely  of  cast  iron.  It  is  laid  over  the  Severn,  from  a  town 
in  Shropshire,  called  Brosely,  to  Colebrook-dale  side,  and  adjoining 
a  truly  romantic  spot  noted  for  coal  mines  and  iron  stone,  where 
with  it  abounds.  Dined  at  the  inn,  company  same  as  last  evening  ; 
afterwards  we  all  together  walked  to  Surgeon  Corbit's,  our  guide 
and  attendant ;  S.  Sew  all  and  myself  drank  coffee  with  his  spouse. 
Leaving  this  house,  Judge  Sewall  and  myself  returned  to  the  inn, 
where  I  passed  a  heavy,  sleepy  evening  ;  S.  Sewall  was  engaged 
in  loyally  celebrating  General  Clinton's  success  at  Charleston,  by 
discharging  a  two-pounder  half  loaded  several  times  in  a  private 
garden  !  The  town  of  Brosely,  where  we  now  are,  is  long  and 
straggling ;  the  houses  seem  to  owe  their  present  situation  to  mere 
chance  ;  in  general  it  has  a  dark,  sooty,  dirty  look,  few  only  of  the 
houses  in  decent  style. 

June  20.     Having  accomplished  the  object  of  our  return,  and 


252  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

being  accommodated  with  a  post-chaise,  took  our  departure,  and  in 
an  hour  were  set  down  at  Bridgenorth,  having  determined  to  take 
passage  on  the  Severn  to  Worcester  at  thirty  miles  from  this ;  this 
variety  in  mode  of  travelling  an  agreeable  one3  especially  as  the 
fare  is  but  one  shilling  and  sixpence,  which  consideration  has 
weight  with  those  whose  bank  begins  to  ebb  fast,  having  already 
measured,  of  turnpike  chiefly,  almost  five  hundred  miles.  Adjusted 
all  with  the  master  for  passage  next  day,  the  interval  between  the 
present  hour  and  time  of  rest  was  chequered  by  eating,  drinking, 
walking,  and  playing  at  backgammon. 

June  21.  Entered  our  conveyance,  which  we  found  common 
and  for  commodities  instead  of  a  passage  boat;  filled  with  wool  and 
bulky  articles  some  feet  above  the  gunwale,  leaving  us  and  one 
fellow  passenger  but  scanty  room  in  stern  sheets.  First  delay 
was  at  Brindley  ;  here  we  refreshed  with  a  collation ;  next  at 
Stourport  at  junction  of  the  great  Staffordshire  canal  with  Severn  ; 
at  six  o'clock  landed  at  Worcester,  just  below  old  bridge.  Jumped 
on  shore,  leaving  companions  and  baggage,  who,  before  they  left 
the  banks  of  the  river,  engaged  to-morrow's  passage  to  Gloucester, 
nearly  same  distance.  From  boat  adjourned  to  the  "  Hop-pole" 
inn ;  soon  after  Mr.  J.  Vassal  entered,  we  being  seen  by  his  ser 
vant  ;  he  is  on  his  return  from  Birmingham,  having  been  there  on 
a  reconnoitering  plan,  and  speaks  of  it  with  the  greatest  dislike  as 
a  dirty,  ill-built  hole.  So  different  are  men's  tastes  that  my  com 
panions  make  it  daily  a  subject  of  their  praises.  For  my  own  part 
I  think  it  deserves  neither  extravagant  praises,  much  less  execra 
tions.  It  is  of  an  amazing  extent,  all  its  new  streets  spacious  and 
straight,  and  not  ill-built ;  here  are  many  excellent  buildings,  and 
London  itself  does  not  exhibit  a  more  spacious  and  well-built  one 
than  Newhall-street,  though  its  paving  is  not  of  best  quality.  Be 
spoke  beds  and  supper,  and  left  the  inn  for  a  ramble ;  directed 
course  to  new  bridge  and  then  to  Castle  Mount,  seeming  a  work  of 
art,  of  a  regular  form,  agreeable  walk  to  the  top  or  flat  about 
eighteen  feet  over,  having  evergreens  around  its  border.  Hence 
returned  back  to  inn.  We  partook  of  a  splendid  supper,  which, 
with  other  acts  of  a  different  complexion  from  the  late  adopted 
plan  of  economy,  shows  that  inconsistency  is  a  common  fault  among 
frail  men. 


UNIVERSITY  jj 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  253 

June,  22.  At  twelve  departed,  our  boat  more  lumbered  and 
dirty  than  before,  and  passengers  of  still  meaner  sort;  and  it 
having  taken  three  hours  to  arrive  at  a  landing  within  three  miles 
of  Upton,  to  which  we  walked  by  land,  distance  passed  by  water 
being  just  seven  miles  from  Gloucester.  Under  such  ill-omened 
circumstances  were  discouraged  from  proceeding  further  by  water, 
and  therefore  on  arrival  of  boat,  ordering  out  our  baggage,  and 
taking,  as  the  sailors  phrase  it,  London  tack  on  board,  proceeded 
to  next  stage  of  fifteen  miles,  called  Newport,  where  changed 
horses.  Our  home  is  distant  from  this  place  eighteen  miles ;  at 
three  or  four  hundred  yards  without  turnpike-gate  at  the  head  of 
Stokes,  we  crossed  a  short  thick  foot-pad,  who,  running  out  from 
under  hedges,  seized  the  reins  of  our  horses,  threatening  instant 
death  to  the  driver  if  he  did  not  stop  ;  whereupon  he  stopped,  and 
giving  up  the  reins,  ran  to  chaise  door  and  was  going  to  demand 
our  money,  when  S.  Sewall  supposing  him  only  a  rude  fellow, 
raising  himself  forward,  made  a  push  at  him  with  his  cane ;  at 
which  the  pad  retreated  back  a  few  paces,  discharging  his  pistol  at 
same  instant,  and  ran  off,  presuming  he  had  executed  his  threat, 
which  was,  "  damn  you,  I'll  do  for  you."  Judge  Sewall  thought 
he  perceived  the  wind  of  the  bullet  as  it  passed ;  be  that  as  it  may, 
it  was  found  next  morning.  It  grazed  the  moulding,  which  di 
verted  it  from  a  course  that  otherwise  must  have  entered  S.  Sewall's 
body,  but  how  his  head  escaped  is  inconceivable ;  it  pierced 
through  the  lining  and  lodged  between  it  and  leather  top,  proving 
a  slug  near  three  quarters  of  an  inch  long,  and  was  picked  up  next 
morning.  Thursday  evening,  June  22,  concluded  a  journey  of  five 
hundred  miles  in  eighteen  days. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMMINS,   LONDON. 

Bristol,  June  24,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  after  my  excursion  of  eighteen 
days  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours.  I  hope  the  execrable 
mob  in  London  is  thoroughly  quelled,  and  the  promoters  of  it  in 
safe  custody,  ready  for  the  execution  of  deserved  justice ;  I  wish 
government  may  arrive  at  the  bottom  of  this  infernal  plot,  for  that 
there  was  one,  no  man  in  his  senses  can  doubt.  Through  the  great 


254  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

extent  of  country  we  passed  during  its  rage,  there  appeared  an 
universal  detestation  against  them  ;  though  should  the  flame  catch 
at  some  populous  places,  there  are  villains  enough  to  be  found 
ready  to  join  in  plunder,  rapine,  murder  and  burning. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  30.  Walked  to  the  quay  to  find  a  vessel  bound  to  White- 
haven,  intending,  if  practicable,  a  water  conveyance  to  Workington, 
in  Cumberland. 

July  6.  Foot-pad  taken  in  Bath-road  ;  Judge  Sewall  seeing 
him  thinks  he  is  the  one  that  attacked  us. 

July  8.  Met  Mr.  R.  Hallowell,  who  informed  me  of  his  going 
to  London.  Received  a  letter  from  J.  R.,  inclosing  one  from 
R.  Ward,  Salem,  by  Isa.  White,  via  Amsterdam. 

TO  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  COWBRIDGE,  WALES. 

Bristol,  July  13,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

By  two  letters  from  Salem,  one  from  our  friend  William 
Pynchon,  of  May  3,  via  Amsterdam,  I  am  informed  of  the  death  of 
Mr.  McGilchrist  on  the  20th  of  the  former  month ;  a  man  of  un- 
dissembled  virtue  and  singular  integrity,  and  the  most  friendly 
heart ;  to  whose  memory  1  cannot  fail  to  pay  the  tribute  of  a  tear. 
Besides  whom,  the  late  ranting  patriot  J.  W.  is  also  gone  to  the 
former  generations.  As  for  the  rest,  all  our  friends  are  well  and 
longing,  but  as  almost  without  hope,  for  the  good  old  times,  as  is 
the  common  saying  now,  except  among  those,  as  he  expresses  it, 
whose  enormous  heaps  have  made  them  easy  and  insolent,  and  to 
wish  for  a  continuance  of  those  confusions  by  which  they  grow 
rich.  Our  friend  wishes  to  hear  from  you  and  other  of  our  towns 
men  and  friends  here.  If  you  are  disposed  to  oblige  in  this  way, 
a  letter  inclosed  to  my  care,  left  at  the  New  England  Coffee- 
House,  London,  soon  to  be  my  residence,  shall  be  forwarded.  I 
am  far  from  being  sanguine  of  essential  good  effects  from  Clinton's 
success. 

Truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 


1780.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  255 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ. 

Bristol,  July  15,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

This  may  serve  to  inform  you  of  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of 
May  3,  and  to  convey  my  acknowledgments  therefor ;    nor  do  I 
know  any  favors  more  deserving  of  thanks  than  letters  from  distant 
friends  and  acquaintance ;  in  truth,  I  think,  Solomon  never  uttered 
more  truth,  or  discovered  more  knowledge  of  mankind,  than  in  the 
following  proverb  :  "  Good  news  from  a  far  country  is  as  cold  wa 
ter  to  a  thirsty  soul."     To  be  made  acquainted  with  the  welfare  of 
my  friends  is  among  the  first  and  warmest  wishes  of  my  heart,  nor 
doth  it  feel  more  pleasurable  sensations  than  are  derived  from  that 
source.  Since  my  last,  the  political  state  of  affairs  seems  in  many  peo 
ple's  opinion  to  have  taken  a  more  favorable  turn  for  this  country,  but 
good  and  ill  often  succeed  each  other  in  the  whirl  of  human  affairs 
in  quick  succession  ;  for  amidst  a  deal  of  good  news  daily  pouring 
in  from  abroad,  a  most  tremendous  cloud  suddenly  and  unlocked  for 
arose  and  covered  our  horizon,  threatening  instant  destruction  even  to 
the  very  being  of  government  itself.     For  some  days  it  was  feared 
the  city  of  London  would  be  laid  in  ashes,  during  which  the  most 
abandoned  and  profligate  miscreants  that  were  ever  nourished  by, 
or  have  proved  the  curse  of  society,  were  to  have  availed  them 
selves  of  the  conflagration  and  terror  occasioned  thereby,  and  plun 
dered  what  the  less  cruel  felons  might  have  spared,  perhaps  mur 
dering  those  against  whom  their  spite  might  have  been  levelled.  On 
the  day  that  the  petition  of  the  Protestant  associators,  as  they  denomi 
nated  themselves,  was  to  be  presented  to  the  house,  the  subscribers 
were  by  an  advertisement  of  Lord  George  Gordon,  their  president, 
desired  to  meet  in  St.  George's  Fields  j    the  reason  alleged  was, 
that  no  building  in  London  was  large  enough  to  hold  the  expected 
numbers,  and  from  thence  to  accompany  him  with  the  petition  to 
the  house — meaning  by  so  numerous  an  appearance  to  give  weight 
to  it,  or  enforce  it  more  effectually.     The  rabble,  many  of  whom 
were  signers,  likely  enough  for  the  most  villainous  purposes,  for 
with  such  the  more  mischief  the  better  sport,  joined,  making  no 
less  a  number,  it  is  credibly  said,  than  forty  thousand  ;    a  number 
of  such  characters,  and  under  such  circumstances,  truly  alarming ; 


256  JOURNAL    AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

from  hence  they  paraded  through  the  borough  of  Southwark  and 
along  London  streets,  at  first  it  is  said  orderly,  but  no  sooner  had 
they  reached  palace  yard  than  they  filled  that  and  all  the  avenues 
leading  to  the  house.  Throwing  off  the  mask,  they  bawled  aloud 
for  liberty  and  the  Protestant  religion ;  and  now  their  insolence 
began,  for  many  members  of  both  houses  undistinguishingly  re 
ceived  marks  of  their  indignant  rage ;  some  were  stopped  and 
threatened,  otherwise  abused  and  assaulted,  pulled  out  of  their  car 
riages,  and  glad  to  get  off  without  hats,  wigs,  with  lacerated  gar 
ments  and  flesh-wounds  ;  whilst  many  were  happy  to  retreat  unhurt 
and  absent  themselves  from  the  house  for  that  day  at  least.  The 
distinguishing  badge  they  wore  was  a  blue  cockade,  which  the 
president,  Lord  George,  had  the  boldness  to  wear  in  his  hat  to  the 
house,  but  being  espied,  he  was  desired,  nay,  even  menaced,  and 
with  reluctance  suffered  it  to  be  taken  out.  The  most  sober,  and 
many  such,  doubtless,  there  were  among  them,  retired  peaceably 
and  in  good  order ;  but  the  rabble,  by  far  the  greater  number, 
having  raised  themselves  into  a  frenzy,  for  fire  you  know  is  kindled 
by  collision,  adjourned,  resolving  to  plunder  and  destroy  the  houses 
of  those  who  from  liberal  principles  had  promoted  a  relaxation  of 
the  supposed  too  great  rigor  of  the  act  of  William  and  Mary  against 
papists,  that  had  been  for  many  months  the  occasion  of  a  paper 
war  on  the  subject,  and  excited  a  real  or  pretended  terror  in  the 
minds  of  many  who  were,  or  affected  to  be,  afraid  of  the  increase  and 
prevalence  of  popery.  The  houses  of  these  and  some  unoffending 
Roman  Catholics  fell  a  sacrifice  the  first  day  to  their  rapine  and 
malice ;  what  became  not  plunder,  was  destroyed,  or  devoted  to 
the  flames.  In  the  number  were  Sir  George  Saville's,  a  most  wor 
thy  character,  a  steady  whig,  and  an  anti-ministerialist,  but  being 
a  friend  to  taxation,  and  a  man  of  property,  was  a  suitable  subject, 
and  worthy  of  these  sons  of  liberty  and  supporters  of  the  Protestant 
cause  to  exercise  their  patriotism  upon. 

The  second  day,  Lord  Mansfield's  house  employed  their  patriotic 
labor ;  his  valuable  library,  pictures,  and  household  goods,  to  the 
amount  of  near  thirty  thousand  pounds,  were  plundered,  broken, 
destroyed  and  devoted  to  the  flames ; — among  other  things,  was  a 
large  collection  of  manuscripts  on  various  subjects,  of  immense  loss 
to  the  world,  it  is  said.  In  short,  as  Lord  Loughborough,  late  Mr. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  257 

Wedderburne,  says,  seventy-two  houses  and  four  prisons  are  now 
lying  in  ruins ;  of  the  latter,  the  fine  new  building  of  Newgate- 
street  prison,  King's  Bench,  Clerkenwell,  and  Surry  Bridewell  : 
from  whence  were  let  loose  all  the  debtors  and  felons  who  assisted 
in  promoting  those  atrocious  crimes,  for  which  they  were  soon  to 
have  suffered  the  justice  of  the  laws.  Had  they  directed  their  aim 
at  the  Bank  the  first  or  second  day  of  their  rage,  it  is  to  be  feared 
they  might  have  annihilated  the  books,  papers,  and  records : — a 
blow  that  might  have  shaken  government  to  its  centre,  and  in 
volved  the  nation  in  evils  too  horrid  to  mention.  The  third  day  it 
was  attacked ;  providentially,  the  fate  of  a  score  or  two,  and  a 
strong  party  of  dragoons  and  light-horse  surrounding  the  palla 
dium,  saved  it  from  the  merciless  claws  of  these  ravening  wolves. 
For  three  or  four  days,  ten  to  fifteen  houses  were  seen  at  one  time 
in  the  centre  of  the  metropolis  lighted  up  by  design  ;  and  to  com 
plete  this  most  abhorred  plan  of  destruction,  a  design  was  formed 
to  cut  off  the  new  river  pipes,  but,  in  the  moment  of  execution,  it 
was  most  happily  prevented. 

Thus  this  great  city  and  the  government  are  still  preserved, 
monuments  of  divine  forbearance  : — it  hath  pleased  Him  who  saith 
to  the  boisterous  waves  of  the  sea,  "  hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and 
no  further,"  to  put  a  stop  to  the  rage  and  madness  of  the  people, 
and  for  the  present  to  control  the  malicious  designs  of  our  inveterate 
enemies ;  for,  that  the  ravages  of  the  late  banditti  took  their  rise 
from  abroad,  has  a  face  of  probability.  Though  I  cannot  take  upon 
me  to  warrant  the  following  or  any  paragraph  in  the  newspapers 
to  be  the  word  of  Apollo,  it  is  yet  confidently  asserted  in  them, 
that  "  a  gentleman  lately  arrived  from  Holland  has  affirmed  that 
he  heard  the  French  ambassador  there  declare  openly,  that  London 
would  be  laid  in  ashes  within  a  month."  So  deep  was  the  plan, 
and  so  seriously  in  earnest  to  ensure  complete  destruction,  that 
such  situations  and  kinds  of  business  were  pitched  upon,  as  afforded 
the  most  combustible  materials  for  supplying  a  fierce  flame,  as 
oil-dealers,  distillers,  warehouses,  &c. ;  but  a  kind  interposing  Pro 
vidence  stopped  the  devouring  fire,  and  all  is  now  once  again 
settled,  quiet,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  safe.  To  secure  which,  and 
overawe  the  profligate  and  daring,  enough  of  whom  all  great  cities 
abound  in,  a  large  encampment  is  still  continued  in  Hyde  Park  of 

33 


258  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

light-horse,  dragoons  and  foot,  and  are  to  be  kept  up  during  the 
summer;  besides  a  party  (notwithstanding  the  city  mayor  and 
patriotic  gentry's  remonstrance  about  city  rights,)  patrolling  and 
keeping  guard  in  London,  to  the  great  annoyance  and  terror  of  the 
turbulent  and  dangerous. 

Bath  and  Bristol  were  intended  to  have  been  theatres  whereon 
to  have  exhibited  the  future  acts  of  the  same  tragedy.  At  the 
former,  the  Roman  Catholic  chapel  and  the  priest's  house  were 
purged  of  all  their  effects  that  fell  within  the  claws  of  these  de 
structive  harpies,  and  the  combustibles  they  committed  to  the  unre 
lenting  flames  :  but  a  party  of  the  Hereford  militia,  and  a  troop  of 
dragoons,  being  at  callable  distance,  seasonably  arrived  to  prevent 
further  mischief.  The  latter  city,  by  a  vigorous  internal  police 
taking  early  precautions,  dispersed  a  threatening  storm ;  three  or 
four  hundred  banditti,  collected  in  St.  James's  parish  in  this  city 
for  the  patriotic  purpose  of  rapine  and  burning,  were,  by  a  well 
timed  early  association,  scattered  and  driven  back  to  their  dens ; 
all  the  well  disposed  arming  and  patrolling  through  the  streets  for 
several  nights.  During  this  miscreantic  insurrection,  Judge  Sewall, 
Samuel  Sewall,  and  myself,  were  on  an  excursion  in  the  country, 
wherein  we  dropped  on  the  abode  of  our  townsfolks,  Samuel  Por 
ter  and  Captain  Poynton  ;  the  former  carrying  indelible  marks  of 
personal  identity,  the  latter  of  an  amazingly  increased  bulk  and 
gouty  habit ;  their  present  abode  is  Shrewsbury.  I  rather  envy 
than  lament  our  worthy  friend,  Mr.  McGilchrist,  who  is  now  in  a 
more  peaceable  neighborhood,  I  dare  say,  than  that  he  has  quitted, 
and  I  fancy  without  regret ;  would  that  you  and  I  were  with  him, 
resting,  perhaps,  in  undisturbed  quiet  till  the  last  grand  tribunal 
scene  shall  open,  and  restore  the  sleeping  dust  to  life  and  activity ; 
or,  perhaps,  roving  in  the  unbounded  fields  of  immensity,  exploring 
and  admiring  the  astonishing  operations  of  omnipotence. 

Know  you  that  the  two  great  objects  of  American  odium  are 
now  no  more : — Governor  Bernard  died  some  time  since,  and 
lately  Governor  Hutchinson ;  suddenly,  as  he  was  stepping  into 
his  carriage. 

Mr.  Timmins  has  recovered  from  a  very  severe  fit  of  sickness, 
and  has  taken  up  his  residence  with  his  family  at  Chelsea,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  air.  My  future  abode  will  be  at  London,  or  its 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  259 

neighborhood.     Letters  will  reach  me  there  addressed  to  be  left  at 
the  New  England  Coffee-House,  Threadneedle-street. 

With  great  esteem,  your  assured  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  16.  Attended  worship  at  College;  Mr.  Porvis,  one  of 
the  prebends,  preached  a  very  ingenious  discourse ;  afterwards  I 
was  told  it  was  not  of  his  own  composing  ;  as  it  is  not  an  unusual 
custom  among  the  Episcopal  clergy  to  read  others'  performances 
in  the  pulpit.  Afternoon  saw  Mr.  Coates,  who  repeated  his  son's 
invitation  to  tea,  and  on  returning  home,  finding  no  one  waiting 
for  me  there,  directed  my  footsteps  to  Bank-terrace,  meeting  a  mul 
titude,  as  is  ever  the  custom  on  pleasant  Sundays. 

July  18.  From  this  day  we  have  an  addition  to  our  family  of 
my  countryman  Nicholas  Lechmere  j  supped  with  him  and  a  friend 
of  his  named  Maddocks. 

July  19.  Just  finished  a  long  letter  to  my  friend  Mr.  Pynchon, 
inclosing  Lord  Loughborough's  speech  to  grand  jury  on  St.  Mar 
garet's  hill  at  the  trial  of  some  of  the  London  rioters. 

July  23.  Afternoon  walked  with  N.  Lechmere  over  Durdham 
Down  to  Ostrick ;  crossed  over  to  Cooke's  Folly,  a  tower  on  the 
banks  of  the  Avon. 

July  30.  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  R.  Lechmere's  and  after  a  social 
tete-a-tete  walked  with  him,  and  lady  and  daughter  and  brother  to 
College  Green,  where  joined  four  Americans.  Wrote  to  advise  my 
friend  Timmins  of  my  intention  to  bid  adieu  to  Bristol,  and  make 
London  my  residence  till  I  shall  be  no  more,  for  I  despair  of  ever 
leaving  this  island. 

August  2.  By  invitation  dined  at  Mr.  R.  Lechmere's  with 
Admiral  Graves'  lady,  etc. 

August  3.  Mr.  N.  Lechmere  accompanied  me  to  the  stage  for 
Bath,  where  took  leave.  Found  a  female  of  fourteen  only  passen 
ger.  At  Temple-gate  were  joined  by  the  well  known  Mr.  Heathin, 
late  of  Honiton  in  Devonshire,  with  his  maiden  sister  ;  the  former 
very  loquacious,  who  without  partiality  seems  a  compound  of  strong 
sense,  knowledge,  vivacity  and  vanity.  ******  My  attention 
was  drawn  to  his  reading  the  quack  doctor's  speech  to  the  gaping 
mob,  his  attendants,  in  Launcelot  Greaves,  written  by  the  late  Dr. 


260  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

Smollet ;  he  solicited  my  interest  with  Mr.  Nathaniel  White,  whose 
preaching  I  had  attended,  and  proposed  still  to  attend  at  old  Jewry, 
in  order  to  procure  for  him  the  use  of  his  meeting-house  on  Sunday 
evenings  for  lecture.  At  six  o'clock  alighted  at  Castle  inn,  Market- 
street,  Bath.  After  tea,  taking  a  ramble  met  my  said  loquacious 
fellow-traveller ;  joining  me,  proceeded  to  a  long  walk  in  a  lonely 
road,  of  which  he  seemed  glad  to  avail  himself  to  recount  his  own 
adventures. 

Bath,  August  4.  Arose  at  seven  o'clock,  and  joined  by  a  Mr. 
Graves,  a  young  clergyman  of  Suffolk,  whose  obliging,  social  be 
havior  rendered  him  an  agreeable  companion.  On  the  road,  about 
half  way  to  our  first  stage,  a  parson  named  Goddard  overtaking  us, 
alighted  from  his  own  horse,  delivered  it  to  a  servant,  and  entered 
our  carriage,  adding  a  third  to  our  company.  For  the  first  half 
hour,  our  two  Oxonians  kept  to  themselves  the  whole  conversation, 
wherein  were  disclosed  many  clerical  and  academic  tales,  stories, 
and  anecdotes ;  among  others  I  recollect  the  following : — Dr. 
Barton,  dean  of  Bristol  and  rector  of  St.  Andrews,  Holborn,  who 
was,  according  to  British  mode  of  expression,  dark,  meaning  stone- 
blind,  being  of  a  humorous  disposition  and  great  self-command, 
having  a  mind  to  entertain  himself,  invited  four  eminent  persons  in 
the  same  desolate  condition  as  he  was,  to  a  dinner,  none  other  being- 
present  but  the  servants.  These  were  Sir  John  Fielding,  of  as 
eminent  a  character  in  the  juridical  line  as  perhaps  any  man  in 
the  civilized  world ;  Mr.  Stanley,  the  well  known  musician,  and 
others  whose  names  I  forget.  After  partaking  of  a  joyous  feast, 
they  took  a  humorous  leave  and  departed.  At  eleven  o'clock  we 
alighted  at  the  Black  Lion  in  Devizes,  where,  after  taking  refresh 
ment,  I  walked  forth  to  ramble,  and  espied  a  sign,  for  quaintness  of 
its  device  here  noted.  On  the  sign  were  painted  five  men,  well 
known  by  the  name  of  the  "five  alls  ;"  the  first  in  order,  accord 
ing  to  present  mode  of  arrangement  of  church  before  king,  stands 
the  parson  in  his  sacerdotalibus ;  he  prays  for  all :  second,  the 
lawyer,  in  his  gown,  band,  and  tie-wig ;  he  pleads  for  all :  third, 
the  soldier  in  uniform,  with  a  fierce  countenance;  he  fights  for  all: 
fourth  is  a  physician,  with  great  wig  and  solemn  phiz,  and  boluses 
and  julips  in  his  hand ;  he  kills  or  cures  all :  the  fifth  and  last  is  the 
farmer,  with  his  settled,  thoughtful  countenance  ;  he  pays  for  all. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS,  26 1 

Leaving  this  place,  with  fresh  horses,  arrived  at  "  Great  Castle" 
inn,  Marlborough,  at  two  o'clock;  distant  thirty-two  miles  from 
Bath.  This  inn  is  famous  through  England  for  grandeur  of  struc 
ture,  it  having  been  a  nobleman's  mansion-house ;  the  excellence 
and  expensiveness  of  its  accommodations,  provisions,  etc.,  are  of 
the  highest  style.  Passed  grounds  wherein  is  a  mount  made  by 
art,  the  ascent  to  the  summit  in  a  spiral  line  of  so  gentle  a  rising  as 
to  be  imperceptible,  in  length  half  a  mile,  though  encompassing  it 
but  four  times.  The  mount  does  not  exceed  a  hundred  feet  diame 
ter,  nor  more  in  height ;  the  top  is  a  plain,  planted  with  trees,  from 
which  is  to  be  seen  a  distant  view  of  the  town,  consisting  of  one 
long  street  and  a  few  short  ones  at  right  angles. 

Newbury,  our  next  stage,  is  a  long  town,  consisting  of  buildings 
in  middle  and  lower  style,  decent  and  in  good  repair ;  has  one 
Episcopal  church  and  four  dissenting  meeting-houses.  Its  inhabit 
ants  are  avowed  friends  of  American  liberty,  and  disavowers  of  the 
war.  Departed  hence  at  seven  o'clock,  slept  at  the  "  George 
inn,"  Reading,  a  large,  handsome,  well-built  town,  principal  of 
this  fine  county  (Berkshire) ;  from  hence  to  Colebrook,  where  I 
stayed  again  and  dined;  then  travelled  my  last  stage, London,  be 
ing  set  down  at  the  Swan  inn,  Holborn  bridge,  at  the  end  of  Fleet- 
market,  at  six  o'clock.  After  a  short  rest,  daylight  still  remaining, 
as  it  did  some  hours  after,  I  walked  forth  to  view  the  ruins  of  Mr. 
Langdale's  house,  etc.,  almost  adjoining  the  inn ;  proceeding  forward 
to  Newgate,  but  little  distance,  which  was  lying  in  a  deplorable 
state  of  ruin,  destroyed  by  the  mob.  I  returned  back  to  my  inn, 
filled  with  honest  but  fervid  indignation,  which  ought  to  warm  the 
breast  of  every  peaceable  well  wisher  to  order,  laws,  safety,  and  the 
rights  of  individuals :  sleep  put  an  end  to  my  mortifying  reflections. 


262  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [  1780. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

London,  Aug.  8.  Engaged  lodgings  at  Mrs.  Councel's,  No.  22 
Castle-street,  Falcon -square. 

TO  HON.  JONATHAN  SEWALL,  BRISTOL. 

London,  Aug.  14,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  been  told  by  Mr.  Jos.  Green  and  his  wife,  and  with  such 
an  air  of  serious  earnestness  as  to  lead  me  almost  into  a  belief  of  it, 
that  advice  had  last  Saturday  been  brought  to  town  by  a  vessel 
said  to  have  arrived  from  America,  that  on  the  19th  of  May,  the 
moon  being  just  then  beyond  the  full,  the  sky  clear  and  unclouded 
at  sunrise,  and  to  all  appearance  promising  a  fine  bright  day,  con 
tinuing  some  time  in  this  state,  when  all  at  once  a  sudden  darkness 
overspread  the  face  of  the  heavens,  and  so  palpably  thick  was  it, 
that  candles  were  lighted  in  the  houses  during  its  continuance  till 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  conduct  the  common  concerns 
and  intercourse  of  life.  A  short  interval  of  light  or  twilight  ensued, 
but  was  succeeded  by  a  tenfold  darker  night  than  was  ever  known. 
Perhaps  I  am  misinformed ;  if  you  have  not  heard  of  this  extra 
ordinary  and  uncommon  phenomenon,  suspend  your  belief  till  bet 
ter  or  no  information  follows,  or  in  the  former  case  a  fuller  and 
more  particular  relation  shall  be  made.  Time,  the  great  revealer 
of  secret  things,  will  soon  convince  you  of  its  truth  or  falsehood.  I 
am  not  myself  determined  in  my  opinion ;  the  belief  of  uncommon 
events  requires  strong  evidence ;  should  this  be  true,  you  have 
astrologers,  soothsayers,  magicians,  and  wise  men  enough  among 
you  to  explain  its  meaning. 

Very  truly,  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  263 

TO  COL.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  COWBRIDGE. 

London,  August  16,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  contents  of  my  last  were  chiefly  to  acquaint  you  of  the  re 
ceipt  of  a  letter  from  our  common  friend,  Mr.  Pynchon,  dated 
Salem,  May  3.  I  shall  now  give  you  a  part  in  his  own  words  : 
"  I  am  pleased  at  having  so  safe  a  conveyance,  but  should  be  more 
so  could  I  write  with  freedom ;  as  I  cannot,  you  will  make  allow 
ances  for  my  scrawl.  I  may,  however,  acquaint  you  that  your 
family  and  friends  are  in  health,  and  bear  with  cheerfulness  and 
fortitude  the  rubs,  jostlings  and  vexations  of  turbulent  times ;  they 
are  wishing  to  see  you,  to  tell  you  a  hundred  things  which  might 
make  you  laugh,  admire,  and  sometimes  stare.  During  the  winter 
we  have  been  blocked  up  with  snow  j  the  oldest  inhabitant  re 
members  not  such  quantities  of  it  on  the  earth  at  any  one  time. 
But  we  are  now  thawed  out,  and  begin  to  rejoice  that  the  price  of 
wood  is  fallen  from  $4,50  to  $3,00  a  cord.  Had  other  necessa 
ries  been  proportionably  dear,  some  of  us  might  well  wish  for  a 
return  of  the  good  old  times,  as  they  are  now  called ;  and  those 
whose  enormous  heaps  have  made  them  easy  and  insolent,  might 
wish  for  a  continuance  of  the  confusions  by  which  they  grew  in 
the  Frenchman's  style,  "  horriblement  riches."  Our  worthy  friend 
Mr.  M'Gilchrist  foretold  that  he  should  not  live  to  see  an  end  of  it, 
and  feared  that  few  of  his  old  friends  would  j  he  has  gone  into  the 
vale,  a  true  prophet — he  left  us  on  the  20th  April.  His  patience 
and  fortitude  continued  to  the  last ;  his  sickness  and  death  were  of 
a  piece  with  his  life,  and  that  you  know  was  a  lesson  of  virtue. 
He  delayed  making  his  will  a  little  too  long ;  some  of  his  preju 
dices  and  resentments  appeared  on  that  occasion.  He  gave  to 
"  the  Society  for  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  foreign  parts"  all 
arrears  coming  to  him,  being  three  years'  salary,  and  his  part  of 
the  donation  made  for  missionaries  who  had  suffered  in  these  times. 
I  often  wish  to  hear  of  Col.  Browne  and  others  of  our  town  - 
men  and  friends  there." 

In  answer  to  a  letter  of  mine  some  time  ago,  mentioning  the 
evils  of  exile  at  my  time  of  life,  he  says,  "  What  would  your  feel 
ings  have  been,  my  good  friend,  if  while  here  you  had  lost  your 
business,  all  your  debts,  the  fruits  of  many  years'  labor ;  had  been 


264  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

driven  to  sell  your  house  and  land  for  the  payment  of  debts  and  ex 
penses,  and  the  remainder  had  sunk  in  your  hands  fifty  per  cent ;  and 
that  though  thus  reduced,  you  could  not  freely  nor  safely  walk  the 
streets  by  reason  of  party  rage  and  malevolence,  and  the  uncon 
trolled  "rancor  of  some  men."  A  wretched  and  truly  pitiable 
condition  this  !  a  just  picture,  I  fear,  of  American  popular  liberty. 
Dr.  Charles  Russell  died  at  Antigua  last  June,  and  his  brother 
James,  who  by  lucky  captures  by  a  letter  of  marque  has  realized 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  sterling,  is  soon  to  be  settled  a  Bristol 
merchant,  and  bound  in  the  matrimonial  chain  to  Mr.  R.  Lech- 
mere's  second  daughter,  Mary,  whom  I  think  a  fine,  well  accom 
plished  lady.  Mr.  Jo.  Green  and  wife  told  me  the  story  of  a  dark 
day  having  occurred  in  New  England,  on  the  19th  of  May,  such  as 
was  never  before  known  ; — in  order  to  maintain  the  common  in 
tercourse  of  life,  candles  were  lighted  and  kept  burning.  For  my 
own  part,  though  I  am  no  believer  in  omens,  I  cannot  but  take  this  to 
be  a  most  extraordinary  and  terrifying  event.  Darkness,  in  the  onei- 
rocritic  art,  denotes  distress,  anguish,  trouble,  loss,  sickness,  death, 
and  the  whole  train  of  evils,  physical  and  moral.  Perhaps  the 
fearful  among  our  country  folks  may  find  in  themselves  a  disposi 
tion  to  be  reconciled  to  the  thoughts  of  a  reconnection  with  this 
country,  which  seems  more  likely  to  force  terms  on  them  than 
since  this  foolish,  needless,  baneful  quarrel  commenced. 

Here,  or  in  this  neighborhood,  I  propose  to  continue  till  I  shall 
take  my  flight  to  the  upper  regions,  or  descend  to  the  shades  below  : 
for  I  am  quite  unsettled  in  my  own  mind  whether  a  state  of  activity 
or  insensibility  shall  fill  up  the  interval  between  death  and  the  fu 
ture  state  of  endless  existence. 

My  respectful  compliments  wait  on  Mrs.  Browne  and  son  ;  and 
ardently  wishing  you  and  them  the  highest  felicity,  I  remain, 
With  great  esteem, 

Your  faithful  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

P.  S.  Mr.  Francis  Waldo,  who  will  soon  be  with  you,  will 
inform  you  of  the  troop  of  New  Englanders  resident  in  Bristol. 

August  18.  Took  a  long,  solitary  ramble  through  Charter 
house-square,  thence  through  Gray's-Inn-lane  to  Clerkenwell-green, 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  265 

wherein  is  a  building  not  before  seen  or  heard  about,  called  New 
Hicks  Hall,  or  Middlesex  Sessions  House,  a  large  and  handsome 
structure;  thence  through  Smithfield  and  Long-lane,  a  narrow,  dis 
mal,  dirty  street,  to  Aldersgate-street. 

August  19.  Called  at  Francis  Waldo's  lodgings  in  Pall  Mall, 
and  at  Arthur  Savage's  in  Brompton-row,  and  left  a  card  for  the 
absentees ;  not  a  little  jaded  by  the  circumambulation. 

August  20.  At  Westminster  Abbey  j  the  vergers  not  thinking 
proper  to  offer  me  a  seat,  I  left  the  choir,  and,  like  the  multitude, 
passed  the  hour  of  devotion  in  gazing  at  the  monuments  and  read 
ing  inscriptions.  From  thence  passing  through  cloisters,  pro 
ceeded  to  Dean's  court,  inclosed  in  part  by  Westminster  school 
buildings ;  returning  back,  stayed  in  choir  during  part  of  prayer 
and  sermon,  and  passed  half  an  hour  in  poet's  corner.  Thence  to 
St.  Margaret's  church,  the  preacher  having  just  then  ascended  the 
pulpit ;  I  was  minded  to  stay,  but  these  church-servants  neglecting 
to  open  a  pew  door  for  me,  I  soon  departed  homewards. 

August  23.  To  artillery-ground  to  view  manoeuvres  of  the 
military  association,  who  performed  manual  exercises,  firings,  and 
evolutions  commendably.  My  curiosity,  though  still  active,  is  soon 
satisfied  ;  nor  do  I  find  a  more  convincing  proof  of  its  increasing 
imbecility,  if  the  expression  be  not  improper,  than  in  this  par 
ticular. 

FROM  HON.  JONATHAN  SEWALL. 

Bristol,  August  22,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

By  a  letter  from  Mr.  Waldo  to  Mr.  Simpson,  the  account  of 
the  miraculous  darkness  at  Boston  had  reached  Bristol  before  I  was 
favored  with  yours.  The  story  I  firmly  believe  to  be  true,  but  like 
many  Jewish  stories  in  the  Old  Testament,  I  take  it  not  in  a  literal, 
but  in  a  metaphorical  or  allegorical  sense.  Take  it  as  an  allegory, 
and  it  is  easily  to  be  credited  ;  but  as  this  kind  of  writing  is  now 
become  rather  obsolete,  it  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  under  the 
present  tyranny  in  America,  no  man  there  dares  write  upon  politi 
cal  subjects  in  plain  English  ;  if  he  writes  at  all,  it  must  be  in 
dark  enigmas,  and  in  this  scriptural  style  I  presume  the  letter  from 

34 


266  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [  1780. 

which  A~OU  derive  your  intelligence  is  written.  Interpret  it  thus 
The  writer  wished  to  let  his  friend  here  know  what  effect  the  news 
of  the  reduction  of  Charleston  had  upon  the  minds  of  the  Boston 
rebels,  (or  saints,  if  you  like  that  word  better,)  but  he  dared  not 
communicate  his  intelligence  in  a  language  intelligible  to  all,  and 
therefore  chose  to  give  it  in  an  allegory,  trusting  to  the  sagacity  of 
his  friend,  who,  being  a  New  England  saint,  as  I  presume,  he 
doubted  not  was  well  enough  versed  in  Old  Testament  allegories, 
to  translate  it  into  literal  English,  and  thus  it  is : — On  the  19th  of 
May,  by  a  private  hand,  the  news  arrived  of  the  surrender  of 
Charleston,  and  though  at  sunrise  the  sky  was  clear,  and  promised 
a  fine  day,  i.  e.,  they  were  till  that  morning  assured  Clinton  would 
be  defeated,  yet  this  fatal  news  at  once  darkened  their  bright  pros 
pect  and  induced  a  gloomy  horror,  so  that  candles  were  lighted  in 
their  houses, — i.  e.,  Adams,  Hancock,  Dr.  Cooper,  and  other  rebel 
leaders  went  from  house  to  house  to  assure  the  people  the  news 
could  not  be  true.  This  was  the  short  interval  of  light,  or  twilight, 
that  ensued;  but  soon  after,  on  the  same  day,  or  perhaps  the  next, 
(for  allegories,  you  know,  do  not  and  need  not  go  on  all  fours,) 
an  express  arrived  writh  an  official  account  confirming  the  dark 
tale,  and  then  the  twilight  was  succeeded  by  a  tenfold  darkness — 
a  dark  horror  and  blackness  of  despair  fell  on  all.  This  is  my  in 
terpretation.  Si  quid  novisti  rectius  istis,  candidus  imperil ;  si  non, 
his  utere  mecum*  It  is  consoling,  pro  tempore,  at  least.  In  my 
sense  of  the  story,  you  are  not  hummed  nor  misinformed,  but  you 
only,  like  many  other  commentators,  misinterpret. 

I  cannot  devise  the  meaning  of  your  quaint  device  at  the  devizes, 
unless  the  five  alls  intend  five  shoemakers,  but  this  seems  too 
far-fetched  to  deserve  even  the  epithet  of  "  quaint ;"  perhaps  were 
I  to  see  the  figures  in  their  characteristic  attitudes,  I  might  make  a 
better  guess  ;  but  with  my  present  data,  I  give  it  up,  and  wish  you 
would  explain  it,  or  if  you  choose  to  try  my  genius  at  expounding 
enigmatical  paintings,  which,  I  assure  you,  is  but  a  sorry  one,  give 
me  the  characteristic  attitudes ;  paint  it  to  me  as  it  is,  and  I'll  try 
again. 

I  am  mightily  pleased  with  the  news  of  the  day  :    La  Nymphe 

*  "  Pray  adopt  it  ;  unless  you  can  suggest  a  belter  one." 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND      I.  ETTKRS.  267 

taken  by  the  Flora,  which  must  be  true,  and  the  French  seventy- 
four  gun  ship  by  the  Bienfaisant,  which,  as  I  always  hope  the  best, 
I  hope  is  true ;  besides  a  frigate  taken  and  carried  into  Halifax, 
which  I  likewise  hope  is  true.  I  rejoice  also  that  Admiral  Geary 
is  arrived  in  the  Channel.  I  hope  the  eighteen  Russian  men-of- 
war  will  be  taken  into  safe  custody,  and  held  till  we  are  sure  they 
can  do  no  mischief.  Were  I  his  Majesty's  premier,  I  would  not 
for  a  moment  trust  a  b of  a  queen,  who  could  murder  her  hus 
band  and  mount  his  throne — there's  no  trusting  such  a  jade  ;  if  she 
means  fair,  her  ships  are  safe  in  our  hands  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  is  most  probable,  she  means,  in  conjunction  with  France  and 
Spain,  to  play  the  devil,  obsta  principiis  ought  to  be  our  motto. 
Nip  her  in  the  bud,  secure  these  eighteen  ships,  and  her  marine 
power  is  annihilated — and  considering  the  brimstone,  besides  mur 
dering  her  husband  which  I  would  never  forgive,  has  been  the  in- 
stigatrix  of  the  northern  association,  why  the  deuce  should  we 
stand  upon  ceremony  with  her?  Why  should  England  regard  the 
laws  of  nations,  while  every  power  in  Europe  is  setting  them  at 
defiance  ?  No,  no.  Providence,  or  their  evil  genius,  has  put 
them  into  our  hands,  and  all  nature  will  ridicule  us  if  we  let  them 
escape.  I  hope  his  Majesty,  God  bless  him,  Lord  North,  Lord 
Sandwich,  and  all  the  lords  of  the  council,  God  bless  them  all,  see  the 
thing  in  the  light  I  do  ;  if  they  do,  I  am  sure  the  Czarina's  eighteen 
ships  will  soon  be  manned  by  British  seamen,  and  added  to  the 
British  fleet.  Her  consummate  impudence  in  sending  her  fleet  into 
our  harbors,  after  the  infamous  step  she  has  taken,  and  our  own 
security,  the  first  of  all  laws,  will  amply  justify  us.  Tell  Lord  North 
what  I  say  when  you  see  him  next. 

I  should  not  have  troubled  you  with  my  scolding  at  the  Empress 
of  Russia,  (against  whom  I  have  no  personal  enmity,  except  a  lit 
tle  for  the  murder  of  her  husband,  which  I  think  concerns  all  hus 
bands,)  had  I  not  learned  when  I  got  half  down  the  other  side, 
that  Danforth  goes  for  London  on  Thursday,  by  whom  I  can  send 
this,  so  that  a  cover  will  cost  you  nothing. 

With  very  little  malice  against  the  Czarina,  and  none  against 
any  other  of  God's  creation,  I  am  your  sincere  friend  and  humble 
servant,  J.  SEWALL. 

MR.  CURWEN. 


268  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

FROM  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE. 

Cambridge,  Wales,  August  22,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  give  you  many  thanks  for  your  kind  favor  just  received,  and 
gladly  avail  myself  of  your  kindness  to  forward  the  inclosed,  as  ad 
dressed.  I  have  also  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  two  former 
letters,  which  have  long  lain  before  me,  waiting  for  spirits  to  sup 
port  the  ennui  of  writing  a  single  line.  In  short,  to  tell  you  a 
truth,  our  prospects  with  regard  to  America  were  till  lately  so  un 
promising,  my  finances  were  so  small,  my  family  and  expenses  so 
increased,  that,  added  to  the  common  catalogue  of  vexations  which 
attach  themselves  to  us  all,  more  or  less,  every  exertion  became  a 
burden,  and  I  had  nothing  to  do  to  be  easy  but  to  do  nothing  and 
care  for  nobody.  Better  expectations  have  produced  better  spirits, 
and  brought  with  them  better  dispositions.  It  is  with  pleasure  then 
that  I  wish  to  revive  a  correspondence  with  an  old  and  much 
esteemed  friend.  It  has  puzzled  all  the  \vise  men  of  Cowbridge  to 
divine  from  what  part  of  London  you  have  dated  your  letter ;  va 
rious  are  the  conjectures,  some  humorous  and  some  plausible,  but 
none  satisfactory ;  so  we  have  agreed  to  suspend  our  speculations 
until  we  could  consult  the  inhabitant  of  this  unknown  region. 

I  thank  you  for  the  extract  from  Mr.  Pynchon's  letter.  A  de 
tail  of  their  sufferings  would  give  us  pain  if  they  were  all  strangers ; 
how  much  more  then  when  we  have  so  many  friends  among  them  1 
It  brings,  however,  this  pleasing  reflection,  that  wre  made  a  wise 
choice  in  leaving  them.  When  you  have  collected  an  authentic 
and  satisfactory  account  of  the  phenomenon  you  mention  to  have 
happened  at  Boston,*  I  wish  you  would  communicate  it,  with  its 
circumstances,  consequences,  and  impressions,  unless  it  should  first 
appear  in  some  public  print. 

I  think  you  do  perfectly  right  to  make  choice  of  London  for 
your  residence  the  coming  winter.  It  is  the  only  place  in  which 
a  single  man  can  spend  the  gloomy  months  with  any  satisfaction. 
I  wonder  as  much  that  more  of  our  countrymen  do  not  resort  there 
at  that  season,  as  that  so  many  of  them  continue  there  when  they 

*  Dark  day. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  269 

ought  to  be  sporting  in  green  fields  and  by  the  side  of  purling 
streams.     Sed  trahit  sua  quemque  voluptas* 

I  lately  received  a  line  from  Mr.  Porter,  describing,  in  the  most 
gaudy  colors  imaginable,  the  happiness  to  which  his  situation  has 
introduced  him,  encouraging  all  the  world  to  come  to  Shrewsbury, 
and  promising  every  felicity  that  the  golden  age  could  ever  boast 
of.  What  strange  mortals  we  are  !  Some  rnen  are  always  happy 
where  they  are,  some  where  they  have  been,  and  some  where  they 
shall  be ;  and  yet  we  are  none  of  us  satisfied  with  either  past,  pre 
sent,  or  to  come.  I  wish  I  could  remove  your  doubts  about  the  in 
terval  you  mention,  for  then  I  could  also  administer  some  satisfac 
tion  to  myself.  At  present  I  have  only  that  of  subscribing  myself, 
dear  sir,  Your  affectionate  friend, 

WM.  BROWNE. 
MR.  CURWEN. 

August  25.  Visited  the  ruins  of  King's  Bench  prison  and  Sur 
rey  bridewell,  sad  proofs  of  popular  folly  and  violence;  the  former 
repairing. 

TO  THOMAS  RUSSELL,  ESQ.,  BOSTON. 

London,  August  25,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  am  ignorant  in  what  light  my  silence  to  you  may  appear ; 
indeed,  I  am  not  satisfied  of  the  propriety  of  it  myself;  however,  I 
doubt  not  your  candor,  when  I  declare  upon  honor,  that  want  of 
real  esteem  and  regard  was  not  in  the  remotest  view  a  cause. 
Your  obliging  favor  demanded  an  answer  and  thanks  ;  do  not  say 
it  is  too  late  now,  for  1  now  offer  them  with  equal  warmth  and  sin 
cerity.  I  presume  Lane  and  Fraser  have  long  since  informed  you 
that  I  availed  myself  of  your  friendly  offer,  that  did  me  an  essential 
service ;  but  having  determined  not  to  mention  any  circumstances 
relative  to  business  in  letters,  for  very  obvious  reasons,  to  which  I 
have  steadily  adhered,  you  will  therefore  please  to  excuse  any 
thing  further  on  this  head.  Would  that  the  safety  of  intercourse 
between  the  two  countries  by  letter  was  greater,  but  God  only 

*  "  Every  one  follows  the  bent  of  his  own  inclinations." 


270  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  [1780. 

knows  when  a  period  will  be  put  to  this  execrably  baneful  war. 
I  fear  it  is  hardly  arrived  to  half  its  length,  unless  this  country 
gives  up  the  chase,  for  the  obstinacy  of  the  Americans  supplies  the 
want  of  resources.  Yesterday  news  arrived  of  the  most  melancholy 
complexion.  Our  western-bound  fleet,  the  convoy  and  one  ship 
only  excepted,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French  and  Spaniard's,, 
consisting  of  forty-nine  merchant  ships,  transports  and  victuallers, 
including  five  outward-bound  East  Indiamen.  This  is  the  most 
capital  blow  England  ever  felt  by  an  enemy  at  sea ;  particulars  in 
papers  that  accompany  this. 

•  ****** 

Of  the  penchant  of  noble  and  wealthy  ladies  to  vie  with  their 
partners  of  the  other  sex  in  the  laudable  pursuit  of  gaming,  etc., 
take  the  following  instance:  At  the  time  of  my  first  arrival  in 
London,  a  house  opposite  Governor  Hutchinson's,  in  St.  James' - 
street,  was  then  finishing,  called  "  Sgavoirvivre,"  being  a  gaming 
house  of  the  highest  modern  taste,  perhaps  much  more  magnificent 
in  architecture  and  furniture  than  English  America  can  boast,  and 
designed  for  gentlemen  exclusively.  The  ladies'  pride  being  piqued, 
they  bought  up  that  which  the  governor  lived  in,  and  the  two  on 
either  side  of  it,  and  though  in  excellent  repair,  demolished  them, 
erecting  in  their  room  one  in  the  same  taste  as  its  opposite  neigh 
bor  ;  and  to  this  day  these  two  temples  are  devoted  to  the  worship 
of  the  blind  deity,  Fortune,  on  whose  altars  are  nightly  sacrificed 
thousands,  besides  the  peace  and  support  of  many  of  her  foolish 
and  equally  blind  devotees.  These,  among  a  multitude  of  other 
instances,  are  proofs  and  memorials  of  the  expensive  taste  and  di 
versions  of  this  age  and  country. 

Messrs.  Byles  and  Brattle  having  been  refused  a  residence  in 
their  own  country,  renders  my  return  (who  I  presume  stand  not  so 
fair  as  either  of  them)  more  doubtful,  or  rather  more  impracticable ; 
and  though  it  has  ever  been  the  first  and  the  last  wish  of  my  heart 
to  return,  and  you  know  that  very  well,  I  presume  you  think  a  per 
mission  not  obtainable,  having  received  no  encouragement  on  that 
head. 

Most  ardently  and  sincerely  wishing  you  every  blessing,  I  am, 
with  love  to  Mrs.  R.  and  little  family, 

Your  obliged  friend,  S.  CUR  WEN. 


1280,]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  271 

FROM  HON.  JONATHAN  SEWALL. 

Bristol,  Aug.  24,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Since  I  wrote  you  by  Mr.  Danforth,  Mr.  R.  Temple  and  family 
have  arrived  here  in  thirty-two  days  from  Boston,  from  whom 
J  learn  that  the  story  of  the  dark  day  is  literally  true;  but,  as  they 
relate  it,  the  phenomenon  was  truly  wonderful,  far  beyond  my 
comprehension.  They  say  the  morning  was  not  as  you  state,  fine 
and  clear,  but  rather  lowering  and  drizzly,  though  far  from  dark ; 
that  at  nine  o'clock  an  uncommon  darkness  came  on,  without  any 
appearance  of  a  thick  cloud.  Mr.  Temple  said  it  seemed  as  if  a 
veil  was  drawn  over  them,  which  he  seemed  to  look  through,  and 
.see  the  heaven  beyond  it.  The  darkness  increased  till  they  were 
obliged  to  light  candles,  and  this  continued  till  three  o'clock,  when 
it  lightened  up  a  little ;  but  before  sunset  the  darkness  returned, 
and  the  night  resembled  the  darkness  of  Egypt,  which  might  be 
felt.  It  was  so  intense  that  many  persons  in  Boston  and  the  coun 
try  were  bewildered  in  going  from  house  to  house  where  they 
were  intimately  acquainted.  They  say  that  during  the  darkness  in 
the  day,  the  green  grass  appeared  of  a  dark  blue  color ;  and  on  the 
next  morning,  both  the  water  and  land  were  covered  with  a  dark 
greasy  or  oily  substance ;  that  the  darkness  extended  northward, 
as  far  as  Hudson  river;  and  westward,  as  far  as  they  had  heard 
from — I  say  as  far  as  Lake  Champlain ;  and  that  it  was  the  devil 
spreading  his  wings  over  the  northern  rebellious  colonies,  and  if 
they  do  not  repent,  the  next  time  he  will  certainly  fly  off  with  them 
all.  I  give  you  this  account  to  atone  for  my  infidelity  in  my  last, 
and  with  all  the  allowance  I  can  make  for  the  subtle  workings  of 
the  imagination.  I  confess,  I  am  puzzled  to  account  for  the  ap 
pearance  ;  the  young  ladies,  the  Misses  Temple,  who  were  in 
Boston,  say  candles  were  lighted  all  the  day  in  the  shops  and 
houses ;  but  in  the  evening,  they  were  at  a  wedding-ball  with  a 
brilliant  company  ;  which,  if  they  don't  exaggerate,  would  put  me 
in  mind  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  world,  who  were  eating  and 
drinking,  feasting  and  frolicking,  till  the  flood  came,  &c.  &c. 
They  add  another  circumstance  which  increaseth  the  wonder ; 
namely,  that  during  the  darkness  there  was  not  the  least  appear- 


272  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

anceoffog,  smoke  or  haziness.  I  wish  you  would  consult  that 
learned  body,  the  Royal  Society,  upon  this  lusus  natura,  and  let 
me  know  the  result ;  for  I  do  not  believe  all  the  wise  men  of 
Boston  will  be  able  to  explain  it. 

I  have  seen  Boston  papers  to  the  17th  of  July  ;  but  they  con 
tain  nothing  new,  except  the  arrival  of  the  Chevalier  de  Ternay 
at  Rhode  Island,  with  seven  ships  of  the  line  and  troops ;  upon 
this  occasion,  all  their  pens  are  at  work  to  rekindle  the  dying 
patriotic  fire.  Washington,  it  seems,  in  expectation  of  de  Ternay's 
arrival,  had  made  a  requisition  upon  all  the  states,  of  men,  horses, 
provisions,  &c. ;  but,  by  the  complaints  in  the  papers,  the  levies 
went  on  heavily.  The  plan  seems  to  be  to  muster  their  utmost  force, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  French,  to  attack  New-York,  and 
drive  the  British  forces  from  the  continent.  I  wish  they  may  have 
courage  to  attempt  it.  General  Kniphausen  has  burnt  the  little 
village  of  Springfield  in  the  Jerseys.  A  paper  of  July  6th,  says, 
General  Clinton  was  returned  to  New-York  ;  but  that  of  the  17th 
leaves  him  up  North  river,  near  forming  a  junction  with  General 
Kniphausen.  The  ladies  of  Philadelphia  have  opened  a  subscription 
for  supplying  the  army  with  comforts  and  conveniences ;  they  have 
appointed  a  treasuress  to  receive,  and  a  committee  to  distribute  the 
donations ;  and  all  the  ladies  upon  the  continent  are  earnestly  and 
pathetically  exhorted  to  follow  this  laudable  and  patriotic  example. 
If  the  zeal  and  spirit  of  the  peasants  can  again  be  raised,  I  think 
this  will  prove  a  decisive  campaign.  Admirals  Graves  and  Ar- 
buthnot,  it  is  said,  are  at  New-York ;  so  that  if  the  Chevalier  De 
Ternay  did  not  get  away  with  ships  very  soon,  they  probably,  ere 
this,  are  added  to  the  British  navy  •  which  would  console  for  the 
loss  of  the  East  and  West  Indiamen. 

I  must  mention  an  advertisement  I  read  in  one  of  the  papers, 

which  shows  the  value  of  the  paper  money  there  : — "  Forty  dollars 

is  offered  a  pound  for  horsehair,  or  three  shillings  in  hard  money." 

Or  which  is  better,  "  the  advertiser  will  work  it  up  at  the  halves  !" 

Yours  very  truly, 

JONATHAN  SEWALL. 

August  26.  Visited  Mr.  Jo.  Scott : — dined  at  Mrs.  Hay's, 
with  James  Harwood  and  S.  Conant,  (two  young  Americans, 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  273 

strangers  to  me,)  and  was  after  joined  by  Mr.  Thomas  Danforth, 
the  first  time  of  seeing  him  since  my  return,  he  having  been  absent 
on  a  three  months'  excursion  to  the  westward  ;  he  brought  me  a 
humorous  letter  from  Judge  Sewall. 

August  27.     Met  S.  Walsh  and  Peter  Johonnot. 

TO  HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  COWBRIDGE,  WALES. 

London,  August  29,  1780. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

Mr.  Francis  Waldo's  intended  journey  to  Cowbridge  on  a  visit 
to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Flucker,  affords  me  opportunity  of  acknowledging 
receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  27th  inst.  Yours  endorsed  to  Mrs. 
Sargent  will  go  off  to-morrow  for  Holland  under  cover  of  mine ; 
having  ordered  the  bearer  in  case  of  capture,  (though  my  letters 
contain  neither  treason,  love,  nor  politics,)  to  throw  them  into  the 
sea  ;  yours  will  follow  their  fate.  My  present  residence  is  not  that 
of  the  gay  and  fashionable,  and  therefore  unknown,  suiting  me  in 
this  state  of  degradation  not  a  whit  the  less  on  that  score.  The 
different  views  and  appearances  that  are  daily  arising  in  and  about 
London,  are  as  great  and  almost  as  frequent  as  the  different  phases 
of  the  moon  in  one  of  its  revolutions,  and  render  many  spots  and 
places  a  mere  terra  incognita,  that  to  those  who  have  been  absent 
a  few  years  were  well  known.  For  having  about  ten  days  since 
wandered  to  the  further  end  of  Mary  le  Bone,  being  designed  to  a 
distant  quarter,  on  finding  myself  there,  I  inquired  for  the  gardens 
which  you  remember  to  have  been  resorted  to  by  company,  and 
where  fireworks  were  exhibited  ;  to  my  surprise  the  whole  ground 
is  laid  out  in  streets  and  covered  wiih  grand  and  elegant  houses, 
and  even  beyond  it.  In  this  ramble  accident  revealed  a  secret  that 
has  puzzled  you  and  the  wise  men  of  Cowbridge,  that  probably  I 
should  otherwise  never  have  possessed.  Some  months  since  a 
letter  was  addressed  to  me  by  James  Russell,  dated  Manchester- 
square — the  location  of  which  was  beyond  the  reach  of  my  know 
ledge  or  any  of  those  I  had  consulted,  having  never  before  heard 
of  it;  chance,  however,  in  this  ramble  directing  my  steps  among 
rows  of  new  buildings,  and  directing  also  my  eye  to  a  corner  house 
in  an  unfinished  square  of  noble  structures,  inscribed  Manchester- 
square,  this  unimportant  secret  was  thereby  revealed. 

35 


274  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

I  am  afraid  your  sunshine  of  happiness  is  a  little  overclouded 
by  the  mortifying  advices  in  respect  of  our  eastern  and  western 
fleets ;  the  most  capital  blow  England  ever  received  by  an  enemy 
at  sea  since  King  William's  reign,  fourscore  years  ago,  when 
nearly  four  hundred  sail  were  lost  at  one  time.  The  loss  is  esti 
mated  at  a  million,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  more.  To  this  another 
stroke  has  succeeded  in  the  capture  of  twelve  Quebec  ships,  sup 
posed  next  in  value  to  theEast-lndiamen  outward.  I  observe  that 
Samuel  Porter,  our  townsman,  has  presented  to  your  view  a  picture 
in  gaudy  colors,  as  you  expresse-l  it,  of  the  felicity  of  his  situation  ; 
that  he  is  pleased  and  contented,  none  has  a  right  to  doubt,  for  he 
affirms  it,  and  he  is  a  very  honest  fellow  and  knows  his  own  feel 
ings  ;  but  our  tastes,  however,  are  various  as  our  faces,  and  he 
doubtless  has  not  made  an  improper  choice  for  himself,  though  I 
dare  say  Judge  and  Samuel  Sewall  could  tell  you  it  would  not  be 
a  proper  one  for  you  or  themselves ;  and  were  either  to  paint  it,  not 
in  high,  but  modest  colors,  you  would  find  a  difficulty  in  resi  rain 
ing  the  exercise  of  the  risible  muscles.  Diogenes  was  delighted 
to  take  his  abode  in  a  tub,  and  although  one  may  disapprove  his 
taste,  who  has  a  right  to  condemn  his  choice  ? 

Pardon  the  dress  of  this  letter ;  for  ever  since  my  arrival  in 
town  1  find  myself  incapable  of  application  ;  the  present  hurry  and 
confusion,  to  which  I  have  for  several  years  been  unused,  dissipates 
and  overwhelms  the  small  share  of  spirits  left  me,  and  which  old 
age  is  daily  lessening.  I  am  often  reminded  of  "Taunton,  dear 
Ned/3  as  the  song  has  it : 

"  My  head  is  astunnod  with  the  naise  and  the  cries 
Of  their  crnds  and  their  creams,  and  their  whot  puden  pies  ; 
And  they  keep  zitch  a  naise  all  over  the  town, 
Ich  think  that  the  world  wor  a  turn'd  up-zide-down.': 

With  the  kindest  love  and  regards  to  Mrs.  Browne  and  family, 
I  remain  your  affectionate  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

August  31.  To  Mr.  Francis  Waldo's,  at  "  Gentlemen's  Hotel," 
Pall  Mall ;  met  Mr.  Jo.  Greene  on  Holborn  Hill,  and  walked  to 
Brompton  to  call  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Savage;  both  absent. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  275 

At  a  bookseller's  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  met  my  Scotch  towns 
man  Andrew  Dalglish,  from  Glasgow,  and  he  wishes  me  to  recom 
mend  him  private  lodgings.  In  the  Strand  met  Mr.  Frs.  Waldo, 
and  accompanied  him  to  Canon  coffee-house,  Spring  Gardens,  and 
took  lea,  where  were  joined  by  Jo  Scott,  and  remained  till 
eleven  o'clock  in  talking  politics.  In  the  "  Courant"  of  this  day, 
find  a  summary  of  form  of  government  to  be  established  in  Massa 
chusetts  Briy,  to  commence  next  October.  It  will  be  well  if  it  be 
productive  or  as  much  security  as  the  old.  There  are  not  wanting 
those,  I  fancy,  many  on  both  sides  the  great  water,  who  do  with 
me  fear  the  dire  consequences  of  an  estrangement  from  govern 
mental  power  and  protection,  and  a  pernicious  alliance  with  a 
faithless  people ;  many  there  are  as  well  affected  to  the  real 
interest  of  that  country  as  the  most  ardent  republicans.  If  French 
troops  in  the  English  colonies  in  North  America  be  not  pregnant 
with  dii-eful  evils,  and  destructive  of  American  independence,  my 
foreboding  fears  are  imaginary  may  they  prove  so.  I  wish,  how 
ever,  the  hot-brained  politicians  there  may  in  lime  foresee  the 
baneful  consequences  early  enough  to  prevent  them, — if  not,  wo 
betide  the  inhabitants!  I  heartily  wish  they  never  may  experience 
the  cruelty  and  oppression  that  befell  Flanders  during  the  Duke  of 
Alva's  sanguinary  tyranny,  and  may  its  oppressions  be  of  less  dura 
tion,  should  they  ever  experience  them  from  their  present  allies. 
The  politics  of  the  court  of  Versailles  are  not  in  their  nature  formed 
to  promote  the  liberty  of  English  subjects;  nothing  but  party  rage 
intercepts  between  the  mental  eye  and  a  truth  visible  as  the  sun  at 
meridian  in  a  cloudless  day. 

Sept.  2.  Circuited  to  Smithfield,  in  order  to  see  the  ceremony 
of  opening  Bartholomew  Fair  by  the  Lord  Mayor — just  finished. 
The  whole  is  a  mere  rabble  rout,  relishable  only  by  "  niene  peu- 
ple;  "  conducted  by  men,  women,  and  children,  in  painted  masks 
and  merry-andrew  tawdry  dresses.  The  amusements  consist  in 
jumping,  dancing,  riding  on  roundabout  horses  with  legs,  speech- 
making,  etc., performed  on  scaffolds;  together  with  sleight-of-hand 
tricks,  in  front  rooms  hired  for  that  purpose;  the  ascent  whereto 
is  by  a  kind  of  rough  ladder-stairs,  actors  and  performers  inviting 
in  by  a  thousand  antic  postures  and  gestures.  Passages  round  lined 


276  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

with  booths  and  tents,  crammed  with  gingerbread,  pastry,  and  all 
kinds  and  varieties  of  baubles. 

Sept.  3.  To  Richmond  Gardens;  they  fall  short  of  my  expec 
tations — a  dead  level,  laid  out  in  lone;,  straight  gravel  walks,  not  in 
the  best  order — lined  with  trees  and  stumps,  great  numbers,  we 
were  told,  cut  down  to  serve  the  king's  kitchen  for  fuel.  A  little 
beyond  is  a  fine  lawn,  interspersed  with  trees,  and  accommodated 
with  field  seats,  commanding  a  delightful  view  of  the  river  Thames, 
here  a  smooth  gentle  stream,  gliding  along  the  side  of  a  delightful 
raised  terrace,  eight  feet  high,  between  gardens  or  Iaw4js,  for  a  mile 
and  a  half,  reaching  to  Kew  house — for  the  pompous  appellation 
of  pa/ace  it  merits  not.  This  walk  reminds  me  of  Sir  John  Dun 
ham's  beautiful  couplet : 

tl  Though  deep  yet  clear,  though  gentle  yet  not  dull ; 
Strcng  without  rage,  without  o'erflowing  full." 

From  this  only  pleasing  spot  departed,  taking  a  final  leave  of 
these  (1  know  not  why)  celebrated  gardens,  and  directed  our  steps 
to  the  Queen's  Terrace,  so  called,  on  Richmond  Hill,  commanding, 
though  not  a  very  extensive,  yet  a  distinct  and  pleasing  prospect, 
having  many  fine  objects  in  command  of  the  eye  besides  the  river, 
which  is  almost  under  foot.  Ascending  to  the  top,  passed  the  well 
known  inn  of  Star  and  Garter,  remarkable  for  its  elegant  accom 
modations,  and  consequent  high  charges,  and  entered  park,  cele 
brated  for  its  natural  beauties. 

Sept.  9.  Met  Mr.  J.  Waldo,  of  Bristol,  and  a  Capt.  Fletcher, 
both  violent  Americans  in  principle ;  the  latter  commander  of  a 
letter  of  truce,  (falsely  so  called,)  who  brought  over  Mr.  R.  Tem 
ple  and  family. 

Sept.  12.  At  Guildhall,  to  see  the  polling  for  city  members 
for  new  parliament;  conducted  with  regularity,  the  avenues  crowded 
with  distributers  of  party  papers,  bawling  aloud  for  their  employ 
ers'  favorites,  friends  of  the  respective  candidates  bringing  on  voters, 
single  and  in  shoals. 

Sept.  15.  Charles  J.  Fox  shot  ahead  of  Lord  Lincoln  greatly 
yesterday  (candidates  for  Westminster)  ;  the  latter,  it  is  said,  pro 
poses  to  keep  the  election  going  on  till  after  some  borough  elec- 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  277 

tions  are  over,  in  order  to  have  a  numerous  host  of  friends,  but  he 
must  rally  great  numbers. 

Sept.  16.  To  Mr.  Timmins's,  and  after  an  hour's  abode,  walk 
ed  together  ;  encountered  Van  Coulster  ;  his  shabby  dress  gave  me 
uneasiness,  indicating  want;  he  seemed  in  good  spirits,  however, 
and  inquired  my  lodgings — gave  him  a  card. 

Sept.  17.  Attended  worship  at  Lincoln's  Inn  chapel.  Samuel 
Peters  preached — he  is  an  indifferent  speaker  and  composer — how 
he  got  there  is  as  hard  to  conceive  as  straws  in  amber.  After,  at 
Essex  chapel,  Mr.  Lindsay  preached  to  a  very  respectable  looking 
assembly ;  church  is  not  crowded  at  this  season — a  most  excellent 
discourse,  delivered  with  suitable  gravity,  and,  I  am  disposed  to 
believe,  sincerity. 

Sept.  19.     Market  crowded  with  mob  huzzaing  for  Fox. 

Sept.  21.  Election  for  sheriffs;  all  but  livery  excluded  from 
the  hall  on  election  of  city  officers. 

Sept.  23.  Walking  through  Old  Bailey,  and  seeing  a  great 
crowd,  learnt  that  two  pickpockets  were  to  be  whipped.  Jack 
Ketch,  a  short  sturdy  man,  soon  appeared  with  the  culprits,  one 
after  the  other;  the  first  seemed  like  an  old  offender,  and  was  mod 
erately  lashed  ;  the  mob  said  he  had  bought  off  the  minister  of 
justice ;  he  writhed  but  little.  The  other  was  young,  distress 
painted  strongly  on  his  countenance  ;  he  cried  loudly  ;  his  back 
seemed  unused  to  stripes ;  from  this  time  it  will  carry  the  marks 
of  legal  vengeance,  and  proofs  of  his  folly  and  wickedness.  Going 
forward,  passed  through  the  Strand ;  and  returned  by  way  of 
Covent  Garden  to  see  election,  which  had  been  ended  and  poll 
closed  for  two  hours  ;  and  the  elected  members,  returning  from  the 
procession,  were  just  entering  James'-street,  mounted  on  two  arm 
chairs,  placed  on  a  board  that  was  carried  on  eight  men's  shoul 
ders,  accompanied  by  thousands  with  tokens  of  victory  :  red  and 
blue  ribbons  in  their  hats. 

Sept.  25.  At  Covent  Garden  theatre ;  performance,  Beggar's 
Opera ;  parts  well  played,  but  great  impropriety,  not  to  say  inde 
cency,  in  Mrs.  Kennedy's  personating  McHeath.  Bravery,  gal 
lantry,  and  a  fearless  disregard  of  death,  the  characteristics  of  that 
notorious  highwayman ;  which  female  softness  awkwardly  imitates. 
Following  entertainment,  falsely  so  called ;  execrably  foolish  and 


278  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

childish.     I  am  sorry  to  arraign  even  the  shilling  gallery  for  want 
of  judgment,  in  suffering  such  unmeaning  stuff  lo  pass  for  a  farce. 

TO  WILLIAM  CABOT,  ESQ.,  NO.  7,  LAMBETH-TERRACE. 

JVb.  22,  Castle-street,  Falcon-square,  Sept.  28,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Recollecting  a  request  you  made  of  me  some  months  since  by 
letter,  I  now  acquaint  you  that  by  reason  of  absence  of  mind  at 
that  time,  it  was  not  in  my  memory  that  Mr.  Lindsay,  the  minister 
of  the  Unitarian  society  meeting  at  Essex  House  in  the  Strand, 
had  published  a  liturgy  reformed  agreeably  to  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke's 
plan,  free  from  the  errors  and  peculiarities  of  any  and  every  par 
ticular  sect  among  Christians;  making  the  supreme  God  and  Father 
of  all,  in  contradistinction  to  every  other  being,  the  sole  object  of 
religious  worship  ;  but  in  the  name  and  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  Lord,  h^ad  and  master,  all  true  Christians  acknow 
ledge  him  to  be.  If  you  have  not  bought  one,  they  are  to  be  hnd 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  bookseller,  72  St.  Paul's  Church-yard.  His  mode 
of  worship,  I  profess  to  think  agreeable  to  the  genuine  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  myself  to  be  one  of  his  worshipping  congregation. 
His  plan,  in  my  view,  is  scriptural  ;  his  worship  plain,  simple,  un 
mixed  with  superstitious,  unmeaning  ceremonies,  as  all  establish 
ments  are  more  or  less  burdened  with,  His  preaching  is  instinctive; 
his  delivery  serious,  pathetic,  and  intelligible  ;  his  language  ener 
getic  and  clear;  the  assembly,  the  most  respectable  for  its  numbers 
I  ever  saw.  Yours  truly, 

S.  CIIRWEN. 

Sept.  29.  As  I  was  walking  in  Holborn,  observed  a  throng  of 
ordinary  people  crowding  round  a  chaise  filled  with  young  children 
of  about  seven  years  of  age  ;  inquiring  the  reason,  was  informed 
they  were  young  sinners  who  were  accustomed  to  go  about  in  the 
evening,  purloining  whatever  they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  and 
were  going  to  be  consigned  into  the  hands  of  justice.  Great  pity 
that  so  many  children,  capable  of  being  trained  to  useful  employ 
ments  and  become  blessings  to  society,  should  be  thus  early 
initiated,  by  the  wicked  unthinking  parents  of  the  lower  classes  in 
this  huge  overgrown  metropolis,  in  those  pernicious  practices  of 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  279 

every  species  of  vice  the  human  heart  can  be  tainted  with,  •which 
renders  them  common  pests,  and  most  commonly  brings  them  to 
the  h  liter. 

Oct.  6.  At  Treasury,  Mr.  Rowe  out  of  town  ;  no  orders  till  the 
20th — the  delay  a  hardship  ;  every  expedient  is  used  that  craft  can 
devise  and  power  execute  to  squeeze  dependents. — Evening  at 
Saddler's  Wells ;  a  variety  of  exhibitions,  tumbling  in  great  variety ; 
among  others  was  the  following  :  a  lad  about  six  years  old,  stand 
ing  on  a  man's  hands,  with  arms  outstretched,  in  an  erect  posture, 
turned  his  body  backwards  so  as  to  bring  his  face  in  a  line  with 
his  legs,  and  between  them.  After  continuing  in  this  seemingly 
strained  condition  for  a  half  minute,  he  gradually  returned  back  to 
his  natural  shape,  keeping  his  poise  without  any  aid.  In  rope- 
dancing  were  the  two  following  instances:  a  young  person,  habit 
ed  and  in  appearance  a  female  to  the  waist,  and  like  a  boy  down 
wards,  on  the  curtain  being  drawn  up,  was  first  seen  lying  on  her 
back,  and  swinging  to  and  fro  three  feet  above  the  floor  of  the 
stage;  rising  without  any  assistance,  she  walked  backwards  and 
forwards  on  it ;  whilst  in  motion,  a  whalebone  hoop  of  greater 
diameter  than  her  height  was  placed  on  the  wire,  into  which  she 
stepped  and  walked  backwards  and  forwards  as  before,  and  whilst 
in  it  received  in  her  hand  a  smaller  hoop,  whereon  wt-re  placed  two 
tumblers,  about  two  thirds  full  of  red  liquor,  and  whilst  she  was 
swinging  whirled  the  smaller  hoop  round  many  times  without 
spilling  a  drop.  The  same  afterwards  mounted  a  tight-iof  e,  hav 
ing  baskets  of  the  size  of  a  half  bushel  fastened  to  her  feet  ;  with 
these  she  walked  backwards  and  forwards,  displaying  various  mo 
tions.  After  divesting  herself  of  these  incumbrances,  she  first 
walked  as  before  backwards  and  forwards,  leaping,  vaulting,  and 
throwing  herself  down.  Her  performances  on  the  tight-rope  were 
accompanied  by  a  balance-pole  in  her  hand,  and  by  two  men  who 
slightly  touched  the  pole  when  it  descended  below  the  horizontal 
lines.  Whilst  on  the  slack-rope,  she  went  through  the  whole  ex 
ercise  of  flourishing  colors,  consisting  of  a  great  variety  of  motions 
— holding  a  standard  in  each  hand. 


280  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780, 

• 

TO  ARTHUR  SAVAGE,  ESQ.,  NO.  7,  BROMPTON-ROW. 

JVb.  22,  Castle-street,  Falcon~square,  Oct.  14,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  agreeable  and  obliging  favor  of  the  llth  instant  came  to- 
hand  the  clay  after  its  date,  but  a  severe  cold,  yet  confining  me,, 
prevented  the  attention  your  politeness  demanded. 

I  thank  you  for  the  kind  information  it  contained  respecting  the 
Roman  denarii  and  English  coins ;  a  few  of  which,  if  not  above 
the  reach  of  my  purse,  I  would  gladly  procure. 

If  my  indisposition  goes  off  and  the  weather  permits,  I  will  wait 
on  you  next  Monday  afternoon.  With  compliments  to  Mrs.  and 
Miss  Savage,  I  remain,  etc.,  etc. 

S.  CURWEN. 

Oct.  15.  Sunday  afternoon,  at  the  Temple.  Stood  for  a  time 
to  take  another  stare  at  old  Plowden's  funeral  monument;  the 
figure  in  a  decumbent  posture,  near  the  altar — a  most  expressive 
face ;  he  died  in  1585.  This  church  is  a  noble  old  large  structure, 
containing  many  funeral  monuments  and  inscriptions.  Just  without 
the  church,  and  under  arches,  lie  in  a  decumbent  posture  ten  Tem 
plars,  in  their  military  garb  and  appurtenances,  contained  within 
two  separate  inclosures.  From  church  retreated  with  the  company 
into  the  gardens,  always  open  on  Sundays  between  and  after 
services. 

Oct.  16.  Visited  Mr.  A.  Savage,  and  abode  there  till  late  in 
the  evening. 

Oct.  17.  To  Oxford-street,  to  examine  some  silver  Roman 
denarii  and  Greek  and  English  coins — for  which  they  require  far 
more  than  I  think  them  worth — a  Cromwell  half-crown  at  thirty- 
six  shillings !  But  I  am  not  medal  mad. 

Oct.  18.  Received  an  order  from  the  treasury  for  my  quarterly 
allowance.  Bought  ten  silver  Roman  denarii.  Mr.  Samuel  Hirst 
Sparhawk  and  Andrew  Dalglish  drank  tea  with  me. 

Oct.  19.  Went  with  Mr.  Sparhawk  to  Disputing  Club,  at  King's 
Arms,  Cornhill — Question  :  "  Is  it  for  the  advantage  of  mankind, 
that  at  the  institution  of  government,  rewards  should  have  been  given 
to  virtue,  as  well  as  punishments  inflicted  for  vice  V  The  proposer 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  281 

varied  the  question,  or  rather  dispute,  by  repeatedly  declaring  the 
impossibility  of  establishing  it,  from  the  unsuccessful  attempts  of 
ancient  nations,  as  Egyptians,  Chinese,  former  and  modern.     This 
point  was  however  contested,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  Rornans,  who 
made  some  faint  attempts  in  corona  civica  and  mutatis — allowing 
valor  to  be  a  virtue,  and  by  exempting  from  taxes  the  father  of  four 
children,  placing  the  increase  in  society  in  that  predicament ;  and 
in  modern  times  the  French,  in  bestowing  the  order  of  St.  Louis, 
and  even  the  English  in  some  instances,  particularly  the  order  of 
the  Bath — the  late  honor  and  pension  to  Capt.  Farmer's  eldest  son 
and  widow ;  all  of  which  had  and  have  a  tendency  to  raise  an  emu 
lation  in  the  breasts  of  gentlemen  in  that  line.    The  whole  of  which 
and  many  other  fine  things  on  this  side  the  question,  were  smartly 
and  pointedly  ridiculed  by  a  Dr.  Dodd,  whose  brilliancy  of  expres 
sion,  liveliness  of  wit,  and  keenness  of  satire,  kept  the  assembly  in 
almost  one  continued  roar  of  laughter  and  applause.     Some  of  the 
speakers  acquitted  themselves  to  very  general  approbation,  and 
none  failed  to  receive  marks  of  applause.     However  low  public 
virtue  and  public  spirit  is  thought  to  be,  and  unfortunately  really 
is,  I  could  not  but  remark,  with  great  satisfaction  and  delight  of 
soul,  the  loud  and  very  general  shouts  of  applause  to  every  lively, 
just  sentiment  and  expression  in  favor  or  in  support  of  the  virtues, 
public  spirit,  regard  to  the  constitution,  and  the  rights  of  mankind. 
The   room  was  large    and  handsomely  furnished  with  glass 
chandeliers ;  and  the  entertainment  so  highly  pleasing,  amusing, 
and  instructive,  that  I  am  determined  to  attend  hereafter  every 
Thursday  evening,  when  circumstances  shall  permit.     The  presi 
dent  enters  at  eight  o'clock,  and  continues  till  ten.     When  the 
question  has  been   debated,  and  no  one,  after  a  silence  of  two 
minutes,  offers  to  rise,  he  puts  the  question,  or  rather  reads  it  very 
deliberately ;  the  vote  is  then  taken  and  declared  ;  in  the  present 
question,  in  the  negative. 

Oct.  25.  It  being  Accession-day,  park  guns  fired — sawr  a  great 
collection  of  people. 

Oct.  26.  Walked  with  Mr.  Dalglish  to  Hempsted,  passing 
Caen  Wood,  Lord  Mansfield's  seat ;  from  thence  to  Highgate ;  at 
Gate-house  we  dined — from  thence  to  Bagnigge-wells  to  tea — 
passing  home,  we  abode  there  two  hours,  and  departed  to  King's 

36 


282  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

Arms,  Cornhill  Disputing  Club  ; — question  proposed  was,  "  Would 
it  be  proper  at  this  crisis,  considering  our  successes  in  South  Caro 
lina,  to  offer  the  Americans  independence  1"  After  much  warmth 
of  expression  on  both  sides,  though  without  scurrility  or  abuse,  the 
question  was  put;  though  the  first  time  declared  by  the  president 
uncertain  on  which  side  the  majority  lay,  to  me  it  appeared  in  the 
affirmative;  none  denied  the  president's  declaration.  The  second 
time  it  was  plainly  in  the  negative. 

Oct.  28.  Had  an  agreeable  tete-a-tete  with  Mr.  T.  Danforth, 
on  his  Holland  tour.  Dined  at  Mr.  Sparhawk's;  company  J.  Scott, 
B.  Cutler,  and  a  young  Mr.  Perkins,  late  from  New-York.  Heard 
many  novel  stories  about  America  and  the  Americans. 

TO  REV.  JOSEPH  BRETLAND,  EXETER. 

London,  Oct.  31,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  should  not  have  failed  to  have  answered  your  obliging  favor 
of  the  30th  ult.  before  this  time,  but  the  daily  expectation  of  giv 
ing  a  satisfactory  reply  to  your  inquiry,  (concerning  the  state  of 
the  air  previous  to  the  darkness  on  which  your  conjecture  was 
founded,)  has  been  the  only  cause  of  this  delay.  The  young  per 
son  who  brought  the  relation  first  to  London  from  Boston,  being 
gone  to  Holland,  has  not  yet  returned  ;  nor  has  it  been  in  my 
power  to  obtain  sight  of  any  one  from  that  country  since  ;  despair 
ing  of  it  for  some  length  of  time,  I  cannot  prevail  on  myself  to  de 
lay  any  longer. 

Your  ingenious  accounting  for  the  appearances  during  and  after 
the  darkness  is  natural,  pleasing  and  intelligible.  The  trouble  you 
have  taken  to  commit  your  thoughts  on  the  subject  to  writing,  de 
mands  my  thanks.  The  late  performance  of  Dr.  Priestley,  which  you 
wished  me  to  read,  I  have  bought  and  read  with  great  delight ;  for 
when  the  very  existence  of  the  Deity,  as  well  as  his  moral  govern 
ment,  is  denied  and  made  the  scorn  and  subject  of  light  mirth 
among  the  young,  thoughtless  and  profligate,  in  conversation  as 
well  as  in  the  writings  of  philosophers  and  pretenders  to  cool,  dis 
passionate,  unprejudiced  reasoning,  I  am  pleased  to  find  one  of  Dr. 
Priestley's  known  abilities  stand  up  in  support  of  this  most  impor 
tant  of  all  the  articles  of  belief.  Two  or  three  difficulties  having 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  283 

occurred  to  me  in  reading,  (which  was  done  in  a  kind  of  currente 
pede,)  I  shall  give  it  a  second  or  third  examination,  and  hope  by 
the  friendly  aid  of  my  worthy  friend,  to  arrive  at  a  more  compre 
hensive  knowledge  of  the  subject.  I  am  glad  Mr.  H.'s  arrogance 
and  malevolence,  if  you  will  allow  the  expression,  against  moral 
obligation,  is  corrected  by  so  masterly  a  hand  ;  but  could  wish  the 
doctor  had  not  rated  his  philosophical  abilities  so  low ;  for  should 
his  defenders  find  the  least  mistake,  misrepresentation  or  misquota 
tion,  his  warmth  will  be  construed  to  have  proceeded  from  envy 
and  a  bitterness  of  spirit  against  an  author  of  established  fame;  nor 
will  the  friends  to  that  side  of  the  question  fail  to  magnify  it  and 
trumpet  it  forth  to  the  doctor's  disadvantage. 

I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give  an  answer  of  a  contrary  kind  to  my 
friend's  wish,  so  flattering  to  my  pride,  of  my  return  to  Exeter ;  but 
the  increasing  infirmities  of  old  age,  the  advanced  season  of  the 
year,  and,  above  all,  the  approaching  period  to  the  American  dis 
pute,  forbid  my  leaving  the  city.  1  fancy  you  will  wonder  at  the 
last  reason  assigned,  but  in  truth  that  event,  it  is  my  real  opinion, 
is  much  nearer  than  is  generally  expected.  I  acknowledge  J  am 
not  acquainted  with  one  courtier  or  court  lounger,  nor  informed  of 
the  deliberations  or  opinions  prevailing  in  the  cabinet.  It  is  from 
the  appearances  of  affairs  only  1  form  rny  judgment.  In  a 
chequered  state  of  things,  as  is  the  case  in  common  wars,  the  sen 
timents,  opinions  and  judgments  of  all  men  vary  with  the  vicissi- 
tudinary,  changing  state  of  events  ;  but  in  this  baneful,  woful 
quarrel,  such  a  continued,  unbroken  series  of  disappointments,  dis 
asters  and  mortifying  events  have  taken  place,  that  it  seems  to  me 
to  be  morally  impossible  but  the  eyes  of  all  thoughtful,  prudent, 
knowing  men  must  open  and  discern  the  impolicy  and  impractica 
bility  of  accomplishing  the  great  end  for  which  this  war  was  un 
dertaken — the  reduction  of  the  colonies  to  the  obedience  of  the 
British  parliament.  It  may  be  objected  that  our  prospects  are 
brightened,  and  we  are  in  a  course  of  conquering ; — that  I  deny, 
for  one  swallow  makes  no  summer.  We  have  beaten  the  rebel 
army,  and  expelled  that  army  out  of  Carolina  with  half  their  num 
bers  ;  have  rivetted  the  inhabitants  to  our  interests ;  they  are  be 
come  loyalists  and  have  sworn  allegiance,  and  that  they  will  always 


284  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

do  whilst  you  can  command  their  estates  and  persons.  This  re 
minds  me  of  the  lines  in  Hudibras : 

u  'Tis  he  that  breaks  an  oath  who  makes  it  • 
Not  he  who  for  convenience  takes  it." 

That  the  Americans  practise  this  rule  is  true,  but  how  far  they 
believe  it  to  be  just,  I  won't  say.  For  proof  I  refer  you  to  Rhode 
Island,  Philadelphia,  and  those  parts  of  Long  Island  and  the  Jer 
seys,  relinquished ;  there  are  besides  many  other  instances ;  while  un 
der  British  power  they  are  loyal,  that  power  removed,  they  as  nat 
urally  return  to  their  former  condition  as  any  elastic  body  returns 
to  its  natural  form  when  the  force  is  removed.  That  the  reduction 
of  South  Carolina  with  the  defeat  of  Gates  will  draw  North  Caro 
lina  and  Virginia,  I  no  more  believe,  than  that  Rodney  will  over 
power  either  of  the  fleets  of  the  combined  powers,  and  of  course 
take  possession  of  some  of  their  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  which 
nobody  dreams  of. 

The  situation  of  this  country  respecting  neutral  powers,  is 
alarming ;  should  Portugal  declare  against  us,  we  shall  not  have  a 
port  on  the  sea  coast  of  this  terrestrial  globe  to  carry  our  prisoners 
into  out  of  our  own  dominions,  whilst  all  the  nations  far  and  near 
shelter  and  protect  our  enemies ;  and  that  she  is  on  the  point  of 
forsaking  our  alliance  is  but  too  probable.  If  Great  Britain  shall 
retain  her  rank  among  the  great  nations  of  Europe,  and  a  respect 
able  part  of  her  foreign  possessions,  the  miracle  of  her  salvation 
will  be  as  great  and  auspicious  as  the  deliverance  of  the  children 
of  Israel  from  the  oppressive  power  of  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts  when 
they  stood  trembling  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  Sea,  just  before  it 
opened  by  divine  command  to  let  them  pass  through,  and  thereby 
escape  his  power.  Could  my  prayers  and  tears  prevail,  a  plenty 
should  not  be  wanting  to  save  our  country  from  utter  ruin,  to  which 
I  fear  this  once  happy,  favored  isle  is  hastening  by  large  strides. 

Please  make  my  compliments  to  such  acquaintances  as  you 
know  I  did  and  ought  to  esteem,  and  believe  me  very  truly, 

Your  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND      LETTERS.  285 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

London,  Nov.  1,  1780.  Went  to  Parliament  House,  through 
Court  of  Requests  to  lobby  of  House  of  Commons  ;  thence  to  pas 
sage  to  the  House  of  Lords ;  the  crowd  in  both  great.  I  could  gain 
no  admittance.  I  saw  Lord  George  Germaine  for  the  first  time  ;  a 
large,  stout,  raw-boned  man.  Met  Mr.  R.  Temple  and  family  in 
the  passage  to  the  lords,  waiting  to  see  Mr.  Querme  of  the  black 
rod  ;  questioned  him  about  the  state  of  the  air  in  New  England 
previous  to  the  mid-day  darkness  in  May  last  year  ;  he  remembered 
but  little  about  that  event,  or  declined  to  say  much  about  it.  In 
clearing  the  house  to  go  to  the  lords  to  attend  the  king's  accept 
ance  of  their  speaker,  and  hear  his  speech  from  the  throne,  I  was 
drawn  away,  \vhen  otherwise  I  might  have  seen  Lord  North,  that 
for  the  space  of  five  years,  my  residence  in  England,  I  have  not 
hitherto  been  favored  with. 

Nov.  4.  Accompanied  Mr.  Dalglish  to  La  Belle  Assemblee, 
or  Ladies'  Disputing  Society.  The  question  proposed  was  :  "  Would 
it  not  be  prudent  and  proper,  considering  the  great  demand  for 
public  supplies,  and  the  difficulty  of  raising  them,  to  lay  a  tax  on 
old  bachelors  ?"  The  lady  who  first  spoke,  moved  to  alter  the 
question  and  include  old  maids,  which  was  objected  to  by  a  fine 
young  lady,  who  answered  in  a  lively,  pleasing  manner;  her  objec 
tion  was,  however,  overruled  by  a  vote  put  by  the  president.  Ques 
tion  then  stood  as  including  old  maids.  Twelve  female  speakers 
stood  forth  in  succession,  and  the  question  was  carried  in  the  affir 
mative.  There  were  many  excellent  thoughts  expressed  and  some 
witty  ones;  some  acquitted  themselves  to  the  approbation  of  the 
company.  A  few,  through  diffidence  or  forgetfulness,  stopped  short 
in  mid-race,  and  sat  down,  unable  to  proceed  ;  these  met  with  po 
lite  and  kind  indulgence,  and  wereclapped  by  way  of  encourage 
ment. 

Nov.  8.  Towards  Guildhall  meeting;  great  crowds  to  view 
the  preparations  for  to-morrow,  when  the  mayor  is  to  be  sworn  in 


286  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

and  invested  with  the  regalia  of  the  chief  magistracy.  The  floor 
of  the  hall  is  raised,  half  of  the  lower  part  partitioned  off  and  in 
closed  for  the  entertainment  of  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  com 
mon  council,  with  their  guests.  In  the  central  line,  through  the 
whole  length,  are  hung  three  noble  chandeliers,  and  round  the 
walls,  in  festoons,  are  placed  small  lamps  of  different  colors.  The 
lady  mayoress'  drawing  room  is  also  adorned  in  the  same  manner, 
and  a  music  gallery  built  up  for  the  present  occasion. 

Nov.  9.  Lord  Mayor's  day.  My  lord  goes  attended  in  a  pompous 
procession  from  Guildhall  toQueenhithe  stairs,  and  thence  in  the  city 
barge,  gaudily  decorated,  by  water  to  Whitehall  stairs,  from  whence 
he  rides  in  a  coach  to  Westminster  Hall,  to  be  sworn  into  his  new 
office  by  one  of  the  barons  of  the  exchequer.  He  returns  by  water 
to  Blackfriars  Bridge  stairs,  where  he  lands  and  goes  in  city  stage 
coach  to  Guildhall,  to  partake  of  the  banquet  there  provided,  and 
pass  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  festivity,  accompanied  by  city 
councils,  sheriffs,  and  other  officers.  Streets  lined  with  crowds, 
besides  company  stands  or  tents  erected  in  Cheapside,  on  both  sides 
as  far  as  King-street,  leading  to  Guildhall.  A  man  in  complete 
armor  attends  the  armorer's  company  on  horseback,  with  such  a 
weight  of  iron  as  renders  his  duty  a  heavy  and  fatiguing  one. 
Called  on  by  Samuel  Sparhawk,  to  accompany  me  to  a  friend's 
house  on  Ludgate  hill,  for  an  advantageous  sight  of  the  procession, 
but  being  too  early,  continued  our  walk  to  the  park,  where  we  met 
Mr.  Clark  (father-in-law  of  Mr.  Copley)  for  the  first  lime  since  my 
return  to  London  ;  he  kindly  welcomed  me  back,  and  invited  me 
to  renew  my  visits  at  his  house. 

TO  HON.  JONATHAN  SEWALL,  BRISTOL. 

London,  Nov.  19,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  delay  to  answer  your  favor  of  August  24,  arose  solely  from 
successive  diappointments  in  my  endeavors  to  obtain  a  true  and  in 
telligible  relation  of  the  state  of  the  air  immediately  preceding  the 
darkness  that  covered  the  face  of  the  heavens  on  the  19th  of  last 
May  ;  the  knowledge  of  this  circumstance  seems  necessary  in  order 
to  assign  a  strictly  philosophical  reason  for  it.  As  the  fact  at  pre 
sent  stands,  all  reasoning  about  it  depends  on  the  truth  of  hy- 


1780.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  287 

potheses  ;  my  philosophical  friend,  Mr.  Bretland,  of  Exeter,  has 
sent  the  following  conjectural  account  of  its  cause,  which  I  shall 
transcribe  for  your  amusement,  and  doubt  not  you  will  think  it  both 
ingenious  and  probable. 

"  The  uncommon  phenomenon  of  which  you  have  favored  me 
with  an  account,  is  deserving  the  attention  of  philosophers  :    the 
previous  circumstances  of  the  atmosphere  where  it  happened,  seem 
necessary  to  enable  me  to  give  a  satisfactory  explication  of  its 
causes.     If  I  may  be  allowed  to  conjecture,  I  suppose  that  before 
it  came  on,  there  had  been  much  dry  and  warm  weather,  and  an 
extensive  stagnation  in  the  air.     If  these  were  the  previous  circum 
stances,  it  may,  I  think,  be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  the 
air  having  been  very  much  dried,  and  the  putrefaction  of  lakes  and 
vegetable  substances  having  become  very  great  and  extensive, 
there  was  a  copious  ascent  of  vapors,  which  are  well  known  to 
have  frequently  a  blue  or  purple  tinge,  and  at  the  same  time  not 
to  form  themselves  into  clouds  sufficiently  dense  to  obstruct  the  pas 
sage  of  the  rays  of  light,  or  wholly  interrupt  the  view  of  objects 
between  which  and  the  observer's  eye  they  may  chance  to  be  situ 
ated,  though  dense  enough  to  reflect  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
rays  of  light  from  the  upper  surface,  and  sufficiently  colored  to 
tinge  the  rays  that  pass  through  them,  and  so  communicate  their 
own  color  to  the  objects  on  which  these  rays  fell.     Perhaps  you 
may  more  clearly  apprehend  my  meaning  by  an  example.     Take 
a  spectacle-glass,  of  deep  purple  color,  and  look  through  it  at  an  ob 
ject,  and  you  will  find  that  you  can  see  the  object  distinctly ;    and 
let  the  light  shine  through  it  upon  an  object,  and  you  will  observe 
the  object  but  faintly  illuminated,  and  to  receive  in  some  degree  the 
color  of  the  glass.     Now  the  greasy  substance  that  fell  in  the  night, 
seems  to  have  formed  during  part  of  the  day  a  vast  spectacle-glass, 
as  I  may  call  it,  through  which  the  heavens  were  visible,  and  from 
the  rays  passing  through  which,  the  glass  received  a  blue  or  pur 
ple  tinge.     The  light  that  came  through  that  immensely  large  glass 
was  so  little  that  a  great  darkness  was  occasioned  by  the  want  of 
those  inconceivably  more  numerous  rays  that  were  reflected  by  the 
upper  surface  of  the  great  spectacle-glass,  and  had  no  object  inter 
posed,  would  have  fallen  as  usual  on  the  earth's  surface.     If  the 
boundaries  of  the  vast  spectacle-glass  had  been  discoverable,  the 


288  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

people  of  Boston  would  have  perceived  that  there  was  a  vast  cloud 
hanging  over  them ;  but  as  they  looked  through  a  medium,  the 
limits  of  which  they  could  not  perceive,  they  were  not  able  to  dis 
cover  any  cloud,  but  as  Mr.  Temple  justly  remarked,  the  heavens 
seemed  to  be  covered  only  with  a  large  transparent  veil." 

So  far  my  friend. — I  could  wish  it  were  possible  to  procure  a  just 
account  of  this  necessary  circumstance  in  order  to  ascertain  the  true 
cause  of  so  singular  a  phenomenon,  but  this  I  fear  is  not  obtainable. 
How  great  was  my  disappointment  at  meeting  your  informant  a 
few  days  since  in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Lords,  where  I  had  some 
conversation  with  him  on  the  subject,  but  to  no  purpose,  he  I  fancy 
not  having  examined  it  with  a  philosopher's  attention,  or  even 
puzzled  his  head  to  investigate  natural  causes. 

Much  greater  effects  might  have  been  expected  from  the  almost 
miraculous  success  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  than  we  have  now  reason 
to  expect;  but  knowing  my  views  of  things  are  very  different  from 
yours,  I  will  not  trouble  you  with  my  foreboding  fears,  and  shall 
bid  adieu  to  the  subject,  which  I  never  consider  without  reluctance. 

Yours,  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Nov.  11.  Entered  Chancery  court,  the  chancellor  sitting  as  he, 
or  the  master  of  the  rolls  when  he  presides,  always  does,  with  hat 
on,  taking  minutes  of  the  case,  as  is  customary  in  all  the  courts 
for  judges  to  do. 

Nov.  12.  Attended  worship  at  Essex  House  chapel ;  Mr. 
Lindsay  preached.  In  mid-service,  a  well  dressed  Scotch  lady 
entered  the  pew  wherein  a  gentleman  and  myself  were  sitting. 
After  service,  she  inquired  of  me  if  the  preacher  did  not  deny  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  or  rather,  she  affirmed  that  he  did ;  adding,  she 
never  heard  it  so  plainly  declared  in  public  before ;  to  which  I 
assented,  telling  her  this  congregation  was  set  up  professedly  on 
Unitarian  principles;  disavowing  all  other  objects  of  religious 
worship  and  adoration,  but  the  supreme,  everlasting  God,  the- 
Father  and  Lord  of  the  universe,  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  who,  in  the  text,  is  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  the 
everlasting  God.  The  settled  members  hold  themselves  the  disci 
ples  of  Christ,  and  members  of  that  body  of  which  he  is  head.  She 


1780.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  289 

further  added,  that  Mr.  L.  was  a  Socinian ;  which  I  neither  was 
disposed  nor  could  I  deny,  referring  her  to  himself  for  a  justifica 
tion  of  his  principles,  as  far  as  he  could  make  it  satisfactory  to  her, 
if  her  curiosity  or  wishes  led  her  to  make  further  inquiries ;  giving 
her  a  short  relation  of  his  conduct  with  respect  to  his  forsaking  the 
Church  of  England,  whereof  he  was  a  settled  minister  seven  years 
ago ;  but  his  scruples  in  relation  to  the  divinity  of  Christ  had 
forced  him  to  relinquish  a  valuable  living,  and  lucrative,  honorable 
prospects  in  that  establishment,  for  an  uncertain  support  among 
those  of  his  own  more  liberal  sentiments ;  and  his  integrity  had 
been  rewarded  here  by  this  society.  She  seemed  disposed  to 
lengthen  our  conversation,  but  having  said  all  I  had  proposed  to 
impart  at  present,  took  a  sudden  leave. 

After  tea,  called  on  Mr.  Dalglish ;  whom,  with  his  friend,  I 
accompanied  in  a  coach  to  "  Carlisle  House,"  at  a  Sunday  evening 
entertainment,  called  the  promenade,  instituted  in  lieu  of  public 
amusement ;  and  to  compensate  for  twelve  tedious  hours  interval 
laid  under  an  interdict  by  the  laws  of  the  country,  yet  unrepealed 
formally  by  the  legislature,  though  effectually  so  in  the  houses  of 
the  great  and  wealthy,  from  whence  religion  and  charity  are  but 
too  generally  banished.  The  employment  of  the  company  is 
simply  walking  through  the  rooms  ;  being  allowed  tea,  coffee,  cho 
colate,  lemonade,  orgeat,  negus,  milk,  &c. ;  admission  by  ticket, 
cost,  three  shillings ;  dress,  decent,  full  not  required ;  some  in 
boots  ;  one  carelessly  in  spurs  happening  to  catch  a  lady's  flounce, 
he  was  obliged  to  apologize  and  take  them  off.  The  ladies  were 
rigged  out  in  gaudy  attire,  attended  by  bucks,  bloods,  and  macca- 
ronies,  though  it  is  also  resorted  to  by  persons  of  irreproachable 
character  :  among  the  wheat  will  be  tares.  The  arrangement  of 
the  house  is  as  follows  : — From  the  vestibule  where  the  tickets  are 
received,  the  entrance  is  through  a  short  passage  into  the  first  room., 
of  a  moderate  size,  covered  with  carpets,  and  furnished  with  wooden 
chairs  and  seats  in  Chinese  taste  ;  through  this  the  company 
passes  to  another  of  a  larger  size,  furnished  and  accommodated  as 
the  former  ;  passing  this,  you  enter  the  long-room,  about  eighty 
feet  by  forty ;  this  is  the  largest,  and  lighted  with  glass  chandeliers 
and  branches  fixed  to  side  walls,  against  which  stand  sofas  covered 
with  silk, — floors  carpeted.  Hence  tending  to  the  left,  you  cross 

37 


290  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS,  [1780, 

the  hall,  and  enter  the  wilderness  or  grotto,  having  natural 
evergreens  planted  round  the  walls  ;  the  centre  an  oblong  square, 
about  twenty-five  feet  long  and  fifteen  broad,  fenced  with  an  open 
railing,  a  few  shrubs  interspersed,  flowering  moss  and  grass ;  in 
one  of  the  angles  is  a  natural  well,  with  a  living  spring,  which 
the  attendant  told  me  was  mineral.  Fronting  the  entrance,  in  the 
centre,  at  the  further  end  is  a  cave  cased  with  petrifactions,  stones 
artificially  cut  into  resemblance  of  the  former,  and  spars,  with  here 
and  there  a  dim  lamp  so  placed  as  to  afford  but  an  imperfect  sight 
of  surrounding  objects.  To  the  top  of  the  arch  leading  to  the  cave, 
is  an  ascent  of  two  flights  of  steps  on  each  hand,  and  over  it  a 
room  not  unlike  in  form  the  cave  below,  painted  in  modern  style 
in  oval  compartments,  containing  hieroglyphics  and  ancient  sto 
ries  ;  on  the  same  elevation  is  a  narrow  gallery,  continued  on 
either  side  to  about  half  the  length  of  room,  fronted  near  three  feet 
high  with  an  open  Chinese  fence  or  railing : — this  room  is  about 
fifty  feet  deep  by  thirty  wide,  lighted  as  the  others  with  variegated 
lamps,  but  rather  dim ;  next  enter  into  two  tea  rooms,  each  with 
tables  for  forty  sets  or  parties. 

So  far  for  my  imperfect  description  of  this  house,  wherein  the 
well  known  Mrs.  Cornelly  used  to  accommodate  the  nobility,  etc. 
with  masquerades  and  coteries.  Dress  of  the  ladies  differed  widely ; 
one  part  swept  their  track  by  long  trails,  the  other  by  an  enormous 
size  of  hoops  and  petticoats.  The  company  usually  resorting  there 
about  seven  hundred,  as  the  ticket  receiver  told  me  ; — this  evening 
the  house  was  thronged  with  a  good  thousand.  The  rooms  were 
filled,  so  that  we  could  scarce  pass  without  jostling,  interfering  and 
elbowing  ;  for  my  own  part,  being  old,  small  and  infirm,  I  received 
more  than  a  score  of  full  butt  rencounters  with  females ; — whether 
provision  was  not  made  for  so  large  a  company,  or  whatever  the 
cause  may  be,  it  was  full  two  hours  before  I  could  procure  a  dish 
of  tea,  after  fifteen  vain  attempts,  nor  was  I  singular ;  and  when 
served,  it  was  in  a  slovenly  manner  on  a  dirty  tea-stand.  I  never 
saw  a  place  of  public  resort  where  the  company  was  treated  with 
so  little  respect  by  servants ;  even  common  tea-houses,  whose  charac 
ter  is  far  humbler,  as  "  Bagnigge  Wells,"  "  White  Conduit  House," 
"  Dog  and  Duck,"  etc.,  are  in  this  respect  preferable.  It  would 
be  treating  "  Ranelagh"  with  great  indignity  to  bring  it  into  com- 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  291 

parison  with  this  which  is  designed  to  supply  its  place  during  the 
long  vacation  of  that  fashionable  resort ;  nor  are  Vauxhall  Gardens 
less  than  a  thousand  times  beyond  this  in  every  eligible  circum 
stance,  unless  I  saw  it  under  peculiar  disadvantages. 

Met  Peter  Frye  and  young  William  Eppes  there  ;  also  saw  the 
Duke  of  Qaeensbury,  who  I  was  told  is  a  never  failing  attendant 
on  places  of  dissipation,  which  his  seeming  age  should,  one  might 
think,  restrain  him  from  such  juvenile  amusements  ;  but  old  habits 
are  strong,  and  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  when  long  indulged. 
Tired  of  this  scene  I  took  myself  off  at  the  early  hour  of  twelve, 
and  bidding  adieu  to  Carlisle  House,  after  a  few  egaremens  arrived 
with  no  small  content  at  my  own  lodgings. 

Nov.  14.  While  rambling,  Montague  House  came  in  view  ;  it 
occurred  to  me  to  take  another  view  of  the  Museum ;  I  entered  and 
applied  to  Dr.  Harper,  the  under-librarian,  who  referred  me  to  the 
ticket  porter  for  admission  the  following  day  at  eleven  o'clock. 
Arriving  at  home,  Wm.  Cabot  drank  tea  with  me ;  S.  Sparhawk 
came  in  afterwards,  and  abode  two  hours  ;  from  whom  I  heard  the 
first  account  of  Arnold's  intentional  withdrawing  himself  and  four 
or  five  thousand  troops  under  his  command  from  congressional 
service  to  the  royal  standard  at  New-York;  the  failure  of  this 
scheme  of  treachery,  and  his  lucky  escape  from  his  enemies'  hands. 
From  him  also  the  relation  of  the  seizure  of  Mr.  Laurens'  papers, 
late  president  of  the  Congress,  and  now  a  state  prisoner  in  the 
tower ;  giving  an  account  of  the  desperate  situation  of  their  affairs, 
with  complaints  of  failure  of  their  resources,  and  their  inability  to 
support  the  war  any  longer  without  loans  from  Holland,  France  or 
Spain.  The  above  comes  from  Benjamin  Thompson,*  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  (formerly  an  apprentice  to  my  next  door  neighbor  in 
Salem,  Mr.  John  Appleton,  an  importer  of  British  goods,)  now 
under-secretary  in  the  American  department. 

Nov.  15.  Mr.  Snelson  calling  at  my  lodgings  by  accident,  I 
told  him  of  my  intention  of  visiting  the  British  Museum,  and  took 
him  with  me.  Dr.  Gifford,  the  librarian,  indulged  me  with  the  ad 
mittance  of  my  companions  without  a  ticket.  The  company  nu 
merous,  of  both  sexes ;  several  inquisitive  and  chatty  ladies  not  a 
little  heightening  the  entertainment.  In  the  Harleian  collection 

*  Afterwards  Count  Rumford. 


292  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

was  an  ancient  manuscript,  near  twelve  hundred  years  old,  most 
curiously  illuminated ;  a  copy  of  Genesis  in  Greek  capitals, 
written  by  Origen's  own  hand  in  a  quarto  size,  inclosed  in  a  beau 
tiful  tin-gilt  box  resembling  that  fold,  containing  only  its  remains, 
being  unfortunately  almost  wholly  destroyed  in  the  Cotton  library 
conflagration  many  years  ago.  On  the  same  shelves  were  also 
many  others  of  distant  antiquity  in  the  same  wretched  plight  with 
this.  Here  also  is  the  remains  of  the  original  Magna  Charta, 
granted  by  King  John  at  Runnymead,  part  of  which  is  scorched 
and  illegible  by  the  same  catastrophe.  An  exact  but  not  per 
fectly  fac  simile  copy  stands  by  its  parent's  side,  with  the  arms  of 
those  noble  barons  who  extorted  it  from  that  unworthy  prince,  em 
blazoned  and  surrounding  it.  Also  that  most  valuable  manuscript, 
the  Alexandrian  copy  of  the  Bible,  in  Greek  capitals,  of  fourteen 
hundred  years'  duration. 

Among  the  shell-fish  kind  is  one  of  the  smallest  size,  which 
looks  like  the  vertebrae  of  a  small  animal,  for  which  an  Italian 
curioso  paid  three  thousand  sequins.  Sir  Hans  Sloane  at  length 
became  possessed  of  it  for  thirty  pounds  sterling  !  Among  pearls 
is  one  of  the  size  of  a  pea,  of  a  light  purplish  water,  valued  at  five 
hundred  pounds.  So  liberal  of  money  are  men  of  curiosity,  that 
the  last  mentioned  sum  has  been  offered  for  it.  The  innumerable 
curiosities  in  the  natural  as  well  as  artificial  way,  coming  fast  upon 
me,  confounded  my  memory ;  the  latter  destroying  the  traces  of  the 
former  by  the  quickness  of  their  transition.  Dr.  Gifford's  respect 
ful  and  cheerful  attention  is  very  pleasing ;  he  is  eighty-one  years 
old,  lively  and  sprightly  to  an  uncommon  degree.  I  observed 
against  the  .wall  of  the  Cotton  library  a  bust  of  Pope  Benedict  XIV., 
called  from  the  liberality  of  his  sentiments  "  the  Protestant  pope." 
In  the  room  of  antiquities  received  from  Sir  William  Hamilton, 
and  brought  from  Italy,  is  a  vase  having  an  inscription  of  Etruscan 
original,  in  the  ancient  mode  of  writing  in  Greece,  soon  after  the 
importation  of  the  sixteen  letters  from  Phenicia  by  Cadmus. 

Nov.  16.  State  lottery  being  to  be  drawn,  curiosity  led  me  to 
Guildhall,  where  a  gallery  for  spectators  is  erected  with  seats,  one 
of  which  I  obtained  for  sixpence.  The  first  object  that  struck  me 
was  a  great  number  of  clerks  writing  down  the  numbers  of  tickets 
and  quality  as  they  were  proclaimed.  The  wheels  were  placed 


1780.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  293 

on  either  hand  upon  a  stage  raised  about  six  feet  from  the  floor,  at 
the  bottom  of  the  hall  under  Beckford's  statue;  between  were 
seated  the  commissioners  at  a  long  table,  and  a  boy  at  each  wheel. 
After  delivering  the  ticket  the  boy  raises  his  hand  above  his  head 
with  fingers  displayed  open,  and  after  two  flourishes  thrusts  it  into 
the  wheel,  delivering  the  tickets  severally  to  the  man  on  either 
side,  who  on  cutting  the  tickets  open,  being  tied  and  sealed,  de 
clares  the  number.  To  prevent  future  pranks  from  boys  employed 
to  draw  out  the  numbers,  a  commissioner  sits  in  a  box  directly 
opposite  each  boy  and  near  him  ;  who  besides  is  obliged  on  taking 
out  each  number  to  raise  up  his  hand,  holding  the  ticket  between 
his  fore  finger  and  thumb,  delivering  it  to  the  man,  who  after 
cutting  it  open  announces  its  fate  or  fortune. 

Walked  to  New  England  Coffee-house  to  inquire  after  new 
lodgings ;  from  thence  to  the  Disputing  Club  at  King's  Arms 
Tavern,  Cornhill ;  the  question  to  be  spoken,  for  properly  it  was 
not  debated,  was,  "  Can  the  doctrine  of  polygamy,  endeavored  to  be 
established  by  a  well  known  divine  in  a  late  publication,  be  defended 
on  the  principles  of  reason,  religion,  or  sound  policy  ?"  After  many 
humorous  and  some  solid  arguments  against  it,  in  defence  however 
of  which  no  one  stood  up  on  Dr.  Maddam  the  author's  grounds, 
it  was  voted  in  the  negative,  one  hand  only  in  affirmative,  produ 
cing  a  hiss  or  laugh  of  contempt  and  indignation.  A  gentleman 
whom  I  took  to  be  in  the  law  line,  stood  up  and  modestly  said  the 
argument  had  not  had  a  fair  discussion,  as  no  one  appeared  but  to 
condemn  and  reprobate ;  and  after  an  apology,  presumed  to  sup 
pose  it  might  under  certain  regulations  and  restrictions  by  the 
legislature,  in  certain  supposable  cases,  be  allowed,  whereby  some 
evils,  the  too  common  attendants  of  matrimony,  might  be  avoided 
without  incurring  greater  evils.  This  met  with  not  the  least  coun 
tenance,  yet  the  speaker,  who  was  a  well  behaved  man  of  know 
ledge  and  ability,  was  treated  with  respect.  It  was  moved  that  the 
company  should  publicly  reprobate  the  doctrine,  but  prudential 
considerations  prevailed  to  negative  the  motion. 

Nov.  21.  Left  cards  and  compliments  at  Mr.  Clarke's  for 
himself  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Copley,  who  are  abroad. 

Nov.  22.  Mrs.  Cowley,  a  celebrated  playwright,  dined  with 
us  ;  she  is  a  small,  sprightly  body.  Evening  at  a  new  play  called 
"  Generous  Impostor" 


294  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1780. 

Nov.  23.  Went  to  Crown  Coffee-house  to  meet  Mr.  Arthur 
Savage,  disappointed  ; — proceeded  to  Westminster  Hall — courts 
sitting.  Saw  Lord  Loughborough  for  the  first  time  since  his  title 
and  presidency  of  the  common  pleas ;  he  was  single  on  the  bench, 
being  on  trials  after  term.  Saw  Judge  Buller  on  king's  bench ;  he 
appears  shrewd,  quick,  ready,  and  promises  for  an  active  judge — 
this  being  my  first  sight  of  him  since  his  advancement. 

Nov.  24.  Taking  out  Mr.  Dalglish,  proceeded  to  Adelphi 
Hotel  to  visit,  en  passant,  Col.  Peter  Frye  and  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Oliver  ;*  after  a  short  stay  departed  for  Westminster  Hall,  the 
doors  of  neither  Lords  nor  Commons  being  open ;  returning  passed 
through  the  Park,  and  met  Samuel  Sparhawk,  who  joined  us  to 
Spring  Garden  Coffee-house. 

Nov.  28.  At  Westminster  Hall ;  courts  sitting.  Mr.  Justice 
Skinner,  lately  advanced  to  chief  baronship  on  exchequer  bench. 
Saw  Mr.  Justice  Heath  on  common  pleas  bench,  whom  I  knew  and 
frequently  saw  a  sergeant  at  Exeter,  his  birth  place. 

Nov.  29.  Six  provinces  out  of  seven  of  the  Dutch  union  have 
acceded  to  the  armed  neutrality  of  the  north,  to  prevent  British 
search  of  neutral  ships  suspected  of  carrying  naval  and  military 
stores  to  the  enemy. 

Sunday,"  December  3.  Walked  up  the  Strand,  when  to  my 
surprise  I  found  myself  all  alone,  not  a  person  within  sight,  not  a 
coach  to  be  seen  or  heard ;  which,  considering  the  hour,  (five 
P.  M.)  was  singular.  In  this  predicament  I  walked  on  a  hundred 
yards  or  more;  arrived  at  Spring  Garden  Coffee-house,  and  over  a 
dish  of  tea  read  the  Morning  Post,  containing  letters  of  Generals 
Washington,  Clinton,  Arnold,  and  Major  Andre.  The  latter, 
though  pitied  here,  perhaps  justly,  is  doubtless  to  be  ranked  in  the 
class  of  spies,  and  his  punishment,  however  censured  here,  was  in 
my  mind  not  undeservedly  inflicted,  and  to  be  justified  by  the 
universal  practice  of  all  nations,  civilized  and  uncivilized,  on  per 
sons  of  that  character. 

Dec.  4.  At  New  England  Coffee-house,  where  conversed  for 
the  first  time  with  William  Jackson,  from  whom  learnt  particular 
circumstances  of  harsh  treatment  he  received  from  fierce  partisans 
in  Boston,  Newburyport,  etc. 

Dec.  5.     Evening  at  Patagonian  Theatre,  Exeter  'Change  ;    a 

*  Afterwards  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Knight. 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  295 

bauble  of  a  thing.  The  show  a  burlesque  farce,  but  I  know  not  of 
what ;  performance  in  puppetry,  speakers  below  the  stage  and  in 
visible  ;  machinery  awkward,  scenery  pretty.  Among  the  auditors 
was  Lord  Molesworth. 

Dec.  12.  Samuel  H.  Sparhawk  called  ;  accompanied  him  to 
Ladies'  Disputing  Club,  at  King's  Arms,  Cornhill.  A  lady  pre 
sided  and  acquitted  herself  very  commendably.  Question :  "  Was 
Mam  or  Eve  most  culpable  in  paradise  ?"  Mrs.  President  ad 
dressed  the  assembly  with  great  propriety,  just  accent  and  pleasing 
voice;  explaining  the  nature  of  the  meeting  ;  justifying  ladies  ap 
pearing  to  speak  in  a  public  promiscuous  assembly.  She  was  fre 
quently  applauded ;  on  ascending  the  chair,  she  turned  round  and 
gracefully  saluted  the  company,  discovering  perfect  self-possession, 
void  of  all  embarrassment.  The  other  speakers  also  acquitted 
themselves  laudably,  and  were  frequently  clapped.  Some  spoke,  I 
won't  say  argued,  on  one  side,  some  on  the  other ;  very  little 
serious  argument, unless  declamation,  quotations  from  Hudibras,  etc. 
can  be  so  denominated.  The  subject  afforded  matter  for  mirth,  but 
the  most  serious  speeches  turned  against  the  mother  of  us  all. 

The  concluding  speech  was  foreign  to  the  question ;  the  subject 
was  the  term  "  congress."  The  speakers  were  lively,  and  their  wit 
and  humor  produced  shouts  of  laughter.  The  principal  speaker  in 
troduced  her  speech  by  observing  that  the  word  being  understood 
here  as  implying  rebellion,  she  at  first  apprehended  American 
ladies  were  coming  over  in  shoals  to  seduce  the  young  gentlemen 
from  our  island  ladies  ;  but  after  considering  the  subject,  and  being 
informed  by  a  clergyman,  to  whom  she  applied  for  its  meaning,  had 
found  that  the  word  has  a  harmless  signification,  and  had  been  used 
on  this  side  the  water  in  treaties  of  peace,  as  the  congress  of  am 
bassadors  of  belligerent  powers  atNimeguen,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  etc., 
that  it  is  derived  from  a  Latin  word  signifying  a  meeting  together 
to  compose  or  reunite  discordant  parties.  She  was  pleased  to  hear 
it  was  not  likely  to  give  disgust  to  our  state  physicians,  who  were 
laudably  employing  their  skill  and  labor  in  administering  harsh 
medicines  to  the  disordered  members  of  our  consumptive  empire. 
After  a  series  of  lively  observations,  she  closed  by  wishing  success 
to  the  institution,  and  that  it  may  do  honor  to  female  eloquence. 
Question  being  put,  whether  Adam  was  most  in  fault,  vote  by  three 


296  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1780. 

hands  only,  negatived  by  one.  Thus  Eve  stands  acquitted  in  this 
female  school  of  oratory  of  being  the  most  guilty,  though  I  fancy 
the  major  part  considered  as  females  are  not  so  clear  in  the  affir 
mative. 

Mrs.  Hayley,  the  great  frequenter  of  all  public  city  assemblies, 
was  there.  A  small  interruption  happened  by  a  dirty  boy's  mixing 
with  the  company ;  the  president  declared  her  surprise  at  it.  In 
all  large  public  collections  of  people  of  mixed  character,  persons 
of  unruly  disposition  are  to  be  found,  who  will  indulge  themselves 
in  undue  freedoms,  if  it  can  be  done  with  impunity. 

Dec.  14.  Col.  Browne  called  on  me  twice  to-day  in  my  ab 
sence. 

Dec.  15.  Called  on  Col.  Browne  and  also  on  Arthur  Savage ; 
both  out,  the  latter  gone  to  Bristol  with  William  Cabot.  In  my 
way,  met  Thomas  Hutchinson,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  four  years. 

Dec.  17.  Afternoon,  accompanied  by  John  Parkhouse,  I  attended 
the  famous  Merries'  chapel  of  ease,  St.  John  square  ;  he  preached 
in  an  animated  style,  \vith  oratorical  delivery,  to  an  audience 
crowded  and  respectable. 

Dec.  19.  Called  on  Mr.  R.  Clarke,  in  company  with  Col. 
Browne ;  we  were  invited  to  Mr.  Copley's  picture-room,  wherein 
were  two  exhibition  pieces,  viz.,  Brooke  Watson's  wonderful  de 
liverance  from  a  great  shark  that  had  twice  seized  him,  and  had 
bitten  off  one  leg.  The  other  piece,  Copley's  own  family,  compri 
sing  himself,  wife,  and  three  children,  and  his  father-in-law,  Mr. 
Clark.  Here  is  also  a  large  piece  representing  the  House  of  Lords, 
when  Lord  Chatham,  in  the  height  of  his  patriotic  zeal,  was  seized 
with  a  fit  which  proved  fatal ;  the  piece  represents  the  moment 
of  his  being  raised  from  the  floor  on  which  he  had  fallen,  and  was 
lying  in  the  arms  and  lap  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  his  son-in- 
law  ;  number  of  lords  sixty,  in  their  dresses,  attitudes,  etc.,  either  as 
they  then  stood,  or  as  the  painter  fancied  they  might,  faces  taken 
from  life  as  they  successively  sat  for  this  purpose.  It  is  to  be  en 
graved  for  a  print,  deliverable  next  August  twelvemonth,  at  three 
guineas  each.  Mrs.  Hay  appeared  in  view  so  very  like,  that  the 
first  glance  announced  for  whom  it  was  intended.  After  amusing 
ourselves  for  some  time,  took  leave  and  separated  at  door.  This 
day  removed  my  lodgings  to  No.  10  Furnival's  Inn  court.  Appear 


1780.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  297 

ances  are  for  enjoyment  here ;  experience  manifold  has  taught  me 
not  to  rely  on  them,  nor  shall  I  draw  up  a  verdict  till  supported  by 
issue  at  departure. 

Dec.  20.  William  Jackson  called,  (he  lodges  at  No.  5  this 
court,)  and  passed  the  evening  till  tea. 

Dec.  21.  More  snow  has  fallen  than  has  been  known  to  be  on 
ground  at  once,  or  in  same  space  of  time,  for  many  years. 

Dec.  23.  Samuel  H.  Sparhawk  called  to  let  me  know  he  had 
received  letters  from  New  England  so  late  as  October  19.  Mr* 
Jos.  Green  died  about  three  weeks  ago. 

Dec.  26.  Called  on  Mr.  Peters  ;  he  was  absent,  being  officially 
engaged  at  church,  this  being  St.  Andrew's  day. 

Dec.  28.  This  is  my  birth-day,  allowing  for  difference  occasioned 
by  altering  the  style.  This  day  I  have  completed  a  circle  of  sixty-four 
years ;  but  to  how  little  moral  advantage,  it  humiliates  me  to  think. 
May  the  short  remainder  of  my  probationary  state  be  marked  with 
brighter  lines,  and  the  review  of  the  interval,  the  present  and  last 
hour  of  my  rational  life,  when  that  awful  and  important  hour  shall 
arrive,  yield  me  a  comfort  that  the  retrospect  of  the  past  cannot 
afford. 

Being  at  Furnival's  Inn  Coffee-house,  Mr.  Peters  and  a  Metho 
dist  parson  entered,  joining  company  and  conversation  for  a  short 
time. 

Dec.  29.  Paid  my  first  mourning  visit  to  Mr.  Joseph  Green's 
widow ;  she  seems  greatly  oppressed  with  grief. 

Dec.  31.     Attended  public  worship  at  Essex-street  chapeL 


38 


298  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

London,  January  1,  1781.  The  first  day  of  the  new  year; 
may  it  please  God  to  crown  the  endeavors  of  good  men  to  bring 
about  that  desirable  event,  peace  and  quietness  among  the  con 
tending  powers,  before  another  annual  revolution,  to  the  honor  and 
safety  of  all  concerned. 

Jan.  2.  Dined  at  Barley-mow,  Salisbury  court.  Meeting 
Harrison  Gray,  learnt  the  capture  of  the  vessel  in  which  S.  Conant 
sailed  from  Holland  ;  she  was  carried  into  Cork.  By  this  means, 
several  letters  I  addressed  to  different  friends  are  thrown  into  the 
abyss. 

Jan.  3.  I  know  not  whether  the  mercantile  portion  of  the  na 
tion  consider  aught  but  present  objects — view  of  gain  by  priva 
teering — always  successful  at  commencement  of  war.  Ships  of 
the  enemy  being  generally  unprepared  for  defence,  fall  an  easy 
prey ;  they  therefore  seem  pleased  with  the  spirited  declaration  of 
the  sovereign,  if  it  may  be  called,  of  war.  Letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal  offered.  By  Lloyd's  books  three  hundred  Dutch  merchant 
ships  are  taken  and  safely  moored  in  our  ports,  and  more  than  three 
thousand  sailors.  But  this  additional  weight,  added  to  that  of 
France,  Spain  and  America,  already  on  our  hands,  the  successful 
issue  of  which  we  seem  to  have  but  too  much  cause  to  despair  of, 
calls  for  united  bravery,  intrepidity,  and  efforts  that  this  nation  has 
in  times  of  like  imminent  danger  exerted,  and  by  divine  favor,  with 
unexpected  success.  May  we  still  experience  the  same  kind  and 
favorable  interposition,  and  make  more  grateful  returns.  Dined  in 
Salisbury  court.  Samuel  Sparhawk  drank  tea  with  me,  and  told 
me  of  my  townsman  Col.  Browne's  advancement  to  the  gover 
norship  of  Bermuda ;  an  unexpected  elevation,  and  I  doubt  not 
acceptable  to  himself,  encumbered,  as  he  is,  with  a  wife  and  three 
children. 

Jan.  6.  Mr.  Peters  and  Mr.  Erving  called;  the  latter's  lodg 
ings,  Charlotte-street,  Islington. 


1781.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  299 

Jan.  9.  Accompanied  Mr.  Dalglish  to  Covent  Garden  Theatre ; 
comedy,  Busy-body, — entertainment,  the  tasty  performance  of 
Freemason  procession, — scenery  pompous,  former  part  to  my  taste 
unpleasing — Harlequin  in  dumb  show ;  why  he  is  said  to  be  a 
freemason,  I  cannot  divine,  unless  investing  him  with  a  square, 
one  of  their  badges,  suspended  by  a  ribbon  and  hung  round  his 
neck,  so  constitutes  him.  The  skipping  about  of  an  antic  dressed 
out  in  a  merry-andrew's  coat,  his  face  covered  with  black  crape, 
and  a  wooden  sword  by  his  side,  put  on  for  the  purpose  of  show 
ing  how  ready  he  is  at  drawing  it  forth  to  slap  his  brother  antics 
on  face,  shoulders,  etc. ;  displaying  the  wonders  of  his  transforming 
power  in  converting  trunks,  dogs,  and  chests,  into  watch-boxes, 
arbors,  chimney-pieces,  etc. ;  his  principal  aim  being  to  make 
grimaces  and  wry  faces  at  his  favorite  Columbine,  who,  by  the 
way,  is  a  fine-looking  girl,  and  made  to  be  deeply  in  love  with  a 
fantastic  ape,  without  one  probable  reason  for  it.  These  species  of 
pantomime  seem  at  present  greatly  in  vogue ;  to  arraign  the  taste 
is  perhaps  conceited ;  but  this  remark  will  never  come  to  light,  if 
ever,  till,  1  dare  say,  it  will  be  as  despised  as  it  is  now  relished, 
especially  by  the  more  enlightened  class ;  as  to  the  lower,  they 
ever  were  and  ever  will  be  too  gross  for  any  entertainment  above 
the  lowest  humor.  I  am,  I  confess,  so  totally  void  of  all  relish  for 
such  diversions,  that  I  forbear  condemning  them,  although  I  consider 
them  as  a  proof  among  many  others  of  the  depravity  of  the  pre 
sent  day.  I  would  fain  call  it  vulgar,  but  too  many  box  spectators 
seem  to  enjoy  it  and  join  the  galleries.  I  can't,  however,  but 
believe  that  all  sensible  persons  do  disapprove  of  these  shows  as 
unworthy,  but  dare  not  openly  avow  their  opinion.  The  comedy 
was  excellent,  and  well  performed ;  and  much  exceeds  in  point  of 
wit,  plot,  etc.,  the,  to  me,  flattish  sentimental  compositions  of  the 
present  day,  with  a  few  exceptions.  After  the  silly  harlequin  had 
skipped  behind  scenes,  a  most  grand  procession  began,  preceded 
by  a  standard  of  light  red  color,  the  ground  of  all  the  following 
ones :  the  first  contained  a  scroll  whereon  was  painted  in  large 
golden  letters,  ENOCH,  the  first  grand-master  ;  his  representative 
following,  accompanied  by  two  attendants ;  at  a  little  interval  ap 
peared,  NIMROD,  second  grand-master,  with  his  representative 
and  four  attendants  ;  next  was  brought  the  front  of  the  temple  of 


300  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

the  Sun  at  Thebes;  afterwards,  the  great  pyramid  of  Egypt  arid  the 
sphynx ;  then,  front  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  built  by  King 
Solomon  ;  Pharaoh's  two  daughters  next  followed,  attended  by 
their  Egyptian  and  Jewish  female  and  male  servants,  the  high- 
priest  properly  habited,  holding  a  pot  of  incense  in  his  hand, — 
breast-plate,  and  other  insignia  on, — closing  with  a  long  stream  of 
attendants  and  servants  in  rear ;  next,  front  of  Pantheon  at  Rome, 
the  founder  or  repairer,  for  it  is  uncertain  which,  M.  Agrippa's 
name  in  a  list  under  the  capital ;  then,  temple  of  Jerusalem,  built 
by  Herod,  destroyed  by  Vespasian,  represented  as  in  flames ;  next, 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  behind  him  was  carried  a  prospective 
view  of  the  tower  of  London,  as  if  built  by  him  ;  then,  Edward 
the  Third,  accompanied  by  his  son  clad  in  black  armor,  from  thence 
denominated  the  Black  Prince, — giving  liberty  to,  and  taking  the 
chains  off  the  legs  of  two  captive  kings,  John  of  France,  and 
James  II.  of  Scotland,  at  the  instance  of  his  son,  followed  by  a  train 
of  attendants;  the  front  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  then  succeeded, 
Julius  II.  having  in  his  hand  a  crosier,  and  on  his  head  a  triple 
crown, — alluding  to  his  regal  authority :  he  was  attended  by  a 
train  of  ecclesiastic  officers  and  servants,  and  had  the  keys  hanging 
to  his  girdle,  as  lord  chamberlain  of  the  state-rooms  in  the  upper 
regions,  and  jailer  in  the  lower  dungeons  ;  —  and  like  Jack  Ketch, 
who  sometimes  has  a  practice  of  his  own  office  tried  on  himself,  it 
will  be  a  wonder  if  some  of  the  pontifical  jailers,  when  others  suc 
ceed,  have  not  the  keys  of  lower  apartments  turned  upon  them. 

Next  in  order  came  Queen  Elizabeth,  dressed  in  royal  robes, 
and  attended  by  her  servants,  both  state  and  domestic ;  then  fol 
lowed  King  James,  surrounded  by  court  sycophants ;  front  of 
banqueting-house  as  it  now  stands,  undefiled  and  undilapidated ; 
next,  Guy  Fawkes,  in  dress  of  his  day,  holding  a  dark  lantern, — 
alluding  to  the  gunpowder-plot, — he  was  forcibly  seized  and  carried 
off;  next  followed  Inigo  Jones,  the  restorer  of  Greek  and  Roman 
taste  in  architecture,  preceded  by  an  ensign,  having  his  name  in  a 
scroll,  with  the  masonic  letters  D.  G.  W. ;  then  came  Charles  II.  and 
attendants,  followed  by  the  front  of  St.  Paul's,  the  present'noble 
structure,  founded  in  his  reign  ;  at  length  appeared  William  and 
Mary,  the  former  holding  a  sheet  of  paper  with  this  inscription, 
Bill  of  Rig/its,— words  that  I  wish  could  be  indelibly  impressed 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  301 

on  the  minds  of  kings,  lords,  commons,  courtiers,  and  people  of 
this  island ;  for,  on  the  practical  remembrance  of  this  short  sen 
tence,  depends  the  security  of  this  unparalleled  constitution,  which 
I  verily  fear  is  near  its  dissolution.  Then  followed  the  grand 
master,  seated  in  a  magnificent  alcove ;  then  an  arch,  having  an 
inscription,  Jincient  Masonry  ;  then  two  pillars,  on  the  top  of  each 
a  globe, — on  one  the  celestial,  the  other  a  terrestrial, — and  on  a 
list,  by  which  they  were  kept  steady,  was  inscribed  Modern  Ma 
sonry.  The  last  in  the  procession  were  Solomon  and  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  seated  on  a  throne  of  state,  and  over  it  a  rich  canopy 
raised  by  six  steps ;  on  the  bottom  steps,  on  each  side,  stood  two 
lions  guardant,  between  them  two  young  Egyptian  damsels,  dressed 
in  white, — and  on  each  side  of  the  throne,  all  the  principal  per 
sonages  of  the  procession  ranged,  with  standards  displayed,  made 
a  grand  and  glittering  appearance.  A  fine  chorus  was  sung,  and 
when  ended,  a  universal  shout  of  applause  rang  through  the 
house,  and  the  curtain  dropped. 

Jan.  10.  An  extremely  cold  day,  scarcely  ever  exceeded  in 
New  England ;  abode  within  all  day,  glad  to  have  a  shelter,  which 
many  a  poor  wretch  wants.  I  never  felt  stronger  reasons  for  grati 
tude  ;  may  the  sense  of  it  ever  remain  on  my  mind,  for  sure  I  am 
it  is  a  most  pleasing  sensation  or  feeling. 

Jan.  12.  Mr.  Timmins  brought  me  a  packet  from  Salem,  by 
way  of  St.  Kitt's,  containing  a  long  letter  from  Dr.  Holyoke,  and 
one  from  Richard  Ward. 

Jan.  15.     Colonel  Erving  and  Mr.  Arthur  Savage  called. 

Jan.  16.  Visited  Mr.  Wiswall ;  accompanied  Mr.  Dalglish,  at 
his  desire,  to  a  visit  at  Samuel  H.  Sparhawk's.  A  second  unsuc 
cessful  one  to  Mr.  Hughes,  who  was  keeping  his  birth-day  at  his 
sister  Hutchin's. 

Jan.  17.  Drank  tea  with  Mr.  Barnes,  his  lodgings,  No.  5  our 
court ;  in  conversation  till  eleven. 

Jan.  19.  Visited  Treasurer  Gray, — he  absent ;  his  son  John 
at  home.  S.  H.  Sparhawk  and  Mr.  Barnes  took  tea  with  me,  and 
passed  evening ;  former  says  a  Mrs.  Thompson,  arrived  from  New 
England,  informs  that  people  in  Massachusetts  utter  complaints 
and  discontents  at  Congress  and  the  French  without  restraint ; — 
when  common  sense  resumes  its  reign,  as  it  usually  does,  sooner 


302  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

or  later,  the  scales  which  party  zeal  had  clapped  over  the  eyes  of 
the  deluded  people  will  fall  off,  and  they  will  discover  the  errors 
their  own  madness  and  ill-judged  submission  to  leaders  of  selfish 
wicked  schemes  have  seduced  them  into.  She  adds,  continental 
dollar  bills  have,  notwithstanding  congressional  authority,  sunk 
to  sixteen  for  one  since  their  emission,  though  sent  abroad  for  the 
express  purpose  of  restoring  their  credit ;  so  ineffectual  is  human 
power  to  create  something  out  of  nothing;  also  reports,  that  taxes 
are  risen  to  such  a  height  as  to  exceed  the  produce  of  the  land. 
Those  who  have  left  America  since  the  rupture,  have  brought  ac 
counts  so  exaggerated  that  renders  it  prudent  to  receive  them  with 
caution,  and  not  give  too  hasty  credit.  However,  that  the  people 
are  oppressed  with  taxes,  is  notorious ;  that  they  are  in  want  of 
money,  of  the  common  essential  articles,  is  also  well  known ;  and 
personal  safety  is  very  precarious,  etc.  Nothing,  I  presume,  but 
despair,  under  the  power  of  an  American  and  French  army,  can 
reduce  this  once  happy  people.  May  these  destructive  locusts  soon 
be  expelled  from  the  face  of  the  country,  and  selfish  purposes  be 
abandoned  ;  for  the  true  interest  of  the  English  government  con 
sists  in  a  friendly  and  indissoluble  union  of  all  its  members. 

Jan.  21.  To  No.  8  Haymarket,  to  see  Lieut.  William  Browne, 
(my  friend  Col.  Browne's  son,)  of  the  38th  regiment ;  he  had 
departed  for  Portsmouth  in  order  to  take  shipping  for  Gibraltar. 

TO  JONATHAN  SEWALL,  ESQ.,  BRISTOL. 

London,  Jan.  23,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

A  few  days  since,  I  received  a  long  letter  from  our  common 
friend,  Doctor  Holyoke,  who  informs  me  that  the  winter  of  '79 — 
80,  exceeded  any  since  1740.  It  began  before  the  middle  of 
December,  and  it  should  seem,  lasted  till  June  nearly  ;  no  vegeta 
tion  taking  place  till  the  last  week  in  May  ;  that  the  snow  con 
tinued  to  fall  till  the  llth  of  January,  when  it  was  between  two  and 
three  feet  deep.  Not  a  day  in  all  January,  nor  till  10th  of  Feb 
ruary,  was  it  warmer  at  eight  o'clock  A.  M.  than  twenty-eight 
degrees  of  Farenheit's  scale, — which  I  fancy  pretty  thoroughly 
cooled  them ;  and,  on  the  29th  of  January,  the  mercury  stood  at 
six  degrees  below  zero  within  doors,  and  abroad  sunk  two  degrees 


178 1.]          JOURNAL   AND  LETTERS.  303 

lower.  Under  all  our  distresses,  we  here  enjoy,  he  says,  one  pros 
pect  promising  public  happiness  in  future  : — four  or  five  years 
since,  less  than  half  a  pint  of  Siberian  wheat  was  sown  among 
them,  producing  so  incredibly,  that,  in  the  northern  counties  of 
New  England  especially,  there  is  reason  to  believe  the  harvest 
this  year  will  yield  seed  enough  for  the  whole  state  another  year. 
Notwithstanding  the  evil  doings  of  our  countrymen,  are  not 
you  pleased  to  think  they  are  likely  to  become  independent  of  the 
southern  colonies,  and  eat,  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  im 
proved  countries  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  Christian's  food,  and  be 
no  longer  confined  to  that  which  everywhere  else  is  raised  only  for 
the  nourishment  of  horses  and  poultry  ?  I  am  glad  at  heart,  but  fear 
that  even  this  blessing,  like  food  taken  into  a  disordered  stomach 
abounding  in  acrimonious  juices,  but  the  more  increases  its  morbid 
state — for  this  unexpected  supply,  and  at  this  juncture,  will  afford 
the  crafty,  political,  and  spiritual  misguides  among  them  but  too 
plausible  an  occasion  to  trumpet  forth  this  seemingly  seasonable 
interposition  of  divine  Providence  in  their  favor,  and  confirm  and 
harden  them,  amidst  all  their  sufferings,  in  their  infatuated  destruc 
tive  resistance  to  a  power  as  necessary  in  my  mind  to  their  safety 
and  honor  as  a  parent  to  his  children  in  an  infant  state.  Nor  do  I 
fancy  it  wrould  be  a  difficult  matter  for  the  aforementioned  gentry 
to  persuade  them  that  Moses  and  Joshua's  prophetical  declarations 
to  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  should  possess  a  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey,  and  be  filled  with  the  finest  of  the  wheat — 
the  two  former  of  which  you  know  they  had  plenty  enough  before, 
— did  ultimately  refer  to  themselves,  was  typical  of  them,  and  was 
now  accomplishing — so  entirely  do  they  seem  to  have  surrendered 
up  their  understandings  to  the  insinuations  and  influence  of  their 
guides.  The  last  year's  taxes  in  Massachusetts  were  more  than 
commensurate  to  the  produce  of  their  lands,  under  the  best  improve 
ment  ;  if  the  force  that  keeps  them  under  such  deplorable  circum 
stances  is  not  insurmountable,  their  political  folly  exceeds  any  re 
corded  in  history. 

With  perfect  esteem,  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 


304  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [178L 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

London,  Jan.  24,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Were  I  to  write  a  theme,  as  you  know  was  customary  in  the 
last  years  at  our  schools,  and  should  choose  Tully's  celebrated  line 
for  the  subject,  "  cedant  arma  togce,  concedat  laurea  lingua"  our 
Massachusetts  might  be  quoted  as  an  example.  For  amidst  the 
din  and  clash  of  arms,  the  hurry,  tumult,  and  confusion  of  war,  as 
though  they  were  enjoying  the  sweetest  blessings  of  a  well  estab 
lished,  secure  peace,  the  rulers  of  the  present  government  there 
have  instituted  and  incorporated  a  society  for  promoting  literature 
and  the  liberal  arts,  etc.,  by  the  name  of  the  "  American  Acade 
my  of  Arts  and  Sciences-"  of  which  the  following  is  a  short  rela 
tion,  received  lately  from  my  friend  Dr.  Holyoke  :  "  Our  legisla 
ture  has  lately  incorporated  sundry  gentlemen  in  the  several  coun 
ties,  to  the  number  of  sixty,  enabling  them  to  hold  real  and  personal 
estate,  and  has  granted  them  other  ample  powers  and  privileges,  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  those  arts  and  sciences  which  may  be 
either  useful  or  ornamental  to  society."  To  which  he  adds,  "  I 
doubt  not,  you  will  wish  the  society  may  flourish ;  the  cause  of 
science  being  the  cause  of  humanity."  I  do  fervently  wish  its  en 
couragement  and  increase ;  glad  at  heart  that  they  have  been  dis 
posed  to  promote  any  plan  to  soften  that  ferocity  and  hardness  of 
heart  which  war,  rapine,  and  plunder  have  lately  spread  among 
them,  and  which  the  wisest  and  most  prudent  among  them  have 
viewed  with  horror.  I  have  never  read  this  paragraph  in  my 
friend's  letter,  but  it  reminded  me  of  a  line  in  Horace,  unless  I  mis 
take  the  author,  Emollit  mores  nee  sinit  esseferos.*  I  was,  for  a 
time,  at  a  loss  to  account  for  their  choice  of  this  particular  period 
for  such  a  purpose,  considering  the  great  and  important  business 
upon  their  hands  of  forming  a  new  state,  etc.,  but  am  now  fully 
satisfied  the  foregoing  hint  was  the  true  and  pressing  cause. 

Dr.  Langdon  has  quitted  the  chair  of  the  presidency  of  Harvard 
College,  but  for  what  reason  I  am  not  acquainted. 

The  late  emission  of  paper  by  Congress  cannot  find  credit 
enough  to  obtain  a  currency — the  old  bills  are  eighty  for  one. 

I  remain  truly  yours,  S.  CURWEN. 

*  Letters  soften  and  refine  the  character. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  305 

TO  ROWLAND  SAVAGE,  ESQ.,  HALIFAX. 

.London,  Jan.  25,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR: 

By  mere  accident,  going  to  the  "  Blue  Post"  almost  opposite 
my  lodgings,  I  saw  Mrs.  Savage,  which  gave  me  great  pleasure ; 
by  her  I  was  informed  of  your  appointment  at  Halifax,  being  the 
first  intelligence  concerning  you  since  my  ill-omened  departure  from 
America.  Hope  your  post  affords  a  genteel  subsistence;  in  these 
times,  no  unfavorable  circumstance  to  refugees,  in  which  case  I  most 
heartily  congratulate  you.  Wishing  you  a  supply  and  continuance 
of  all  needful  blessings,  I  am  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jan.  27.  Mr.  Barnes  called  on  me  to  inquire  about  Colonel 
Erving's  lodgings,  Islington. 

Jan.  28.  At  St.  Paul's — Dr.  Whitfield  preached ;  company, 
as  usual,  small  but  respectable.  Passed  an  hour  at  Gray's  Inn 
Coffee-house;  received  a  list  of  the  seized  and  forfeited  estates  in 
Massachusetts. 

Feb.  1.  Dined  at  White  Heart  inn,  Bishopgate-street,  at  Mr. 
Dalglish's  invitation,  in  company  with  Messrs.  H.  Hughes,  Hutch- 
ins,  John  Inman,  and  Whitlock. 

Feb.  5.  At  Westminster  Hall,  being  the  important  day  of 
Lord  George  Gordon's  trial ;  floor  stowed  as  bale  goods  in  a  ship, 
and  as  closely  packed.  Soon  took  myself  off,  rather  than  hazard 
death  by  suffocation  : — the  collection  was  miscellaneous.  Trial 
lasted  till  four  o'clock  next  morning,  when  he  was  acquitted  on 
the  score  of  insanity. 

Feb.  6.  Accompanied  Mr.  Arthur  Savage  to  Clerkenwell,  by 
his  desire,  to  view  an  old  secularized  religious  house,  called  Priory, 
now  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Portland,  tenanted  by  a  carpenter 
and  undertaker,  who  civilly  accompanied  us  through ;  there  is  now 
nothing  remaining  of  old  buildings  but  a  small  portion  of  cloisters, 
at  the  end  whereof  is  cut,  "  Jordan  Bridget,  Murrell  Bridget, 
founders,  1100."  In  a  distant  part  are  small  remains  of  a  wall, 
supposed  to  be  in  a  state  of  decay,  and  the  two  arches,  a  larger 
and  a  smaller,  the  former  ornamented,  and  both  portions  of  a  circle, 

39 


306  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

which  form  prevailed  before  the  introduction  of  the  Gothic  or  Nor 
man  styles.  Returning  from  thence,  turned  into  a  court  of  several 
narrow  alleys,  filled  with  small  huttish  kind  of  houses,  the  habita 
tions  of  filth  and  vice,  named  Blueberry  Jllley,  notorious  for  its  con 
stant  supply  of  Tyburn.  Ten  have  been  dragged  out  from  thence 
in  one  session,  for  thievery  and  other  enormities,  and  graced  the 
halter.  Met  our  late  Mr.  Fisher ;  I  turned  in  with  him  to  Mr. 
Hutchins'  auction  room,  who  was  then  employed  in  disposing  of 
natural  and  artificial  curiosities,  from  the  South  Sea,  just  imported 
in  the  "  Resolution." 

Feb.  7.  Visited  Col.  Browne  and  lady ;  meeting  Mr.  Dalglish, 
took  him  with  me,  and  after  a  short  stay  departed  to  Mr.  Tim- 
mins's ;  thence  to  Mr.  Arthur  Savage's,  Brompton-row. 

Feb.  9.  Mr.  Dalglish  called  for  me  to  accompany  him  to 
Greenwich  Hospital ;  walking  to  Gracechurch-street,  after  half  an 
hour's  delay,  entered  stage  and  soon  arrived  there,  and  thoroughly 
examined  it  within  and  without.  Dined  in  a  detached  room  be 
longing  to  a  tavern  in  the  town,  built  and  projecting  over  the  river 
Thames,  from  whence  is  a  view  of  the  Isle  of  Dogs,  Blackwall  and 
Long  Reach.  Returned  in  stage ;  in  our  passage  was  told  the  fol 
lowing  :— an  inhabitant  of  this  town  walks  every  day  and  has  done 
so  for  some  years  back,  from  seven  to  eight  miles,  having  measured 
within  the  period  from  whence  the  computation  began  to  some 
months  since,  forty-five  thousand  miles.  Evening  at  Crown  Tavern 
Lodge ;  Quick,  the  celebrated  comedian,  was  raised  to  masonry— 
a  humorous,  funny  companion,  who  I  fancy  intends  to  entertain  the 
public  with  the  secrets  of  this  society. 

Feb.  10.  Accompanied  Mr.  Barnes  to  St.  Nicholas  College 
Abbey,  Old  Fish-street.  Dr.  Porteus,  Bishop  of  Chester,  preached 
an  excellent  and  elegant  sermon,  in  style  and  composition,  and 
pleasingly  delivered. 

Feb.  13.  Visited  by  Parson  Peters,  and  Parson  Clarke,  late  a 
townsman ;  from  a  cold  taken  on  board  a  prison  ship  in  Boston 
harbor,  to  which  he  was  consigned  by  the  patriots  in  punishment 
of  toryism,  he  has  lost  his  voice,  and  is  scarce  able  to  articulate. 
This,  added  to  his  deafness,  renders  him  a  lonely,  pitiable  object ; 
he  has  received  twenty  pounds  per  annum  from  the  society  for  pro 
pagating  the  gospel — government  declining  to  give  him  a  settled 


1781.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  307 

stipend,  though  it  has  once  and  again  presented  him  with  a  scanty 
gratuity. 

Feb.  15.  At  Col.  Browne's.  Mrs.  Browne  informed  me  of 
her  treatment  at  Salem  and  Boston,  after  her  husband's  departure 
to  England. 

Feb.  16.  At  Bow  church  to  hear  an  annual  sermon  to  society 
for  propagating  the  gospel  in  partibus  transmarinis ;  Dr.  Hurd, 
bishop  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  preached  ;  present  the  lord  may 
or,  two  sheriffs,  two  archbishops,  Butler  of  Oxford,  Thomas  of 
Rochester,  and  Markham  of  York. 

Feb.  19.  Evening,  at  an  address  on  heads,  exhibited  in  trans 
parency,  as  follows :  Sterne,  a  pathetic  apostrophe ;  Capt.  Cook, 
the  celebrated  circumnavigator,  an  encomium,  etc.  Breslau's  sur 
prising  tricks  on  cards  followed,  interluded  with  music,  and  an 
imitation  of  the  thrush,  blackbird,  sky -lark,  nightingale,  wood-lark 
and  quail. 

Feb.  24.  To  theatre  to  see  Mrs.  Cowley's  new  play  ;  unfor 
tunately  it  was  hissed  off  the  stage  just  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  act ;  being  in  its  progress  of  acting  alternately  and  frequently 
hissed  by  its  foes  and  cheered  by  its  friends ;  the  latter  proved  the 
minority,  and  therefore  unsuccessful,  as  all  in  minorities  are  in 
state  and  church,  as  well  as  theatres.  Many  came  for  the  express 
purpose  of  supporting  or  damning  it ;  her  husband,  a  writer  in  one 
of  the  daily  papers,  employs  his  pen  in  criticising  works  of  all  other 
stage  writers,  and  has  by  the  severity  of  his  remarks  raised  up  a 
host  of  determined  foes,  to  crush  whatever  proceeds  from  his  quar 
ter;  though  no  foreign  considerations  were  needed  to  banish  this 
piece  from  the  stage,  its  own  intrinsic  unworthiness  was  more  than 
enough;  being  a  low  performance,  and  unworthy  the  pen  of  the 
author  of"  Belle's  Stratagem"  and  "  Who's  the  Dupe."  Knowing  the 
writer  and  her  connections,  I  feel  severely  for  them,  especially,  too, 
as  her  brother  is  a  fellow  lodger,  whose  exquisite  delicacy  of  feel 
ing  must  be  cruelly  wounded  on  this  occasion.  The  prologue  and 
epilogue  were  excellent,  and  did  great  credit  to  the  performers,  Mr. 
Lewis  and  Miss  Young,  who  were  rewarded  with  universal  ap 
plause. 

Feb.  26.  Drank  tea  at  the  widow  Greene's  in  company  with 
two  Misses  Joye  of  Boston,  by  whom  I  was  informed  of  the  follow- 


308  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1781. 

ing  :  viz.,  a  younger  son  of  Francis  Greene  from  Boston,  who  was 
born  deaf  and  dumb,  who  was  under  the  tuition  of  a  person  in 
Scotland,  in  the  course  of  one  year  arrived  to  the  power  of  forming 
articulate  sounds,  and  can  now  converse  on  any  subject  so  intelli 
gibly  as  to  be  understood  without  difficulty  by  those  acquainted 
with  him ;  music  only  excepted ;  he  writes  letters  with  propriety 
and  even  elegance.  This  person  engages  to  instruct  dumb  pupils 
in  all  languages,  and  has  examples  of  his  success  to  prove  his  art ; 
he  has  more  than  a  hundred  now  under  his  management.  A  pro 
posal  is  about  to  be  presented  to  the  king  by  the  Duke  of  Mon 
tague  for  establishing  academies  in  several  parts  of  England,  to 
instruct  children  of  the  poorer  sort  in  this  unhappy  predicament,  on 
a  public  foundation  ; — may  it  succeed,  and  thereby  be  brought  into 
usefulness  many  of  promising  parts.  This  plan  is  suggested  by  Dr. 
Hunter,  whose  avocations  render  it  impracticable  to  himself. 

March,  8.  Met  three  of  my  countrymen  at  three  different 
times,  Dr.  Perkins,  Mr.  R.  Clarke,  and  Mr.  Elisha  Hutchinson. 

March  10.  Col.  now  Governor  Browne,  called  on  me  with 
complaints  of  my  neglect,  which  sundry  avocations  caused. 

March  11.  At  Charing  Cross  just  as  there  was  passing  a  most 
pompous  procession  of  funeral  coaches,  attended  on  each  side  by 
numerous  flambeaux-men  holding  in  their  hands  lighted  torches  in 
branches  of  four. 

March  12.  Passed  eight  hours  at  Col.  Browne's  in  a  friendly 
tete-a-tete. 

March  22.  To  Westminster  Hall,  and  passing  through,  came 
to  foot  of  steps  leading  to  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
where,  seeing  an  officer  standing  unemployed,  I  inquired  about  the 
disposition  and  arrangement  of  rooms  belonging  to,  and  under  and 
adjoining  the  pile  called  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  lords'  house,  star 
chamber,  painted  and  Jerusalem  chamber ;  and  from  him  received 
a  more  particular  and  satisfactory  account  than  I  had  ever  before 
had.  Proceeding  thence  to  the  lobby  of  the  commons  house,  I 
found  it  filled  with  gentry  in  livery ;  just  peeping  in,  I  went  di 
rectly  to  the  hatch  leading  to  the  antechamber  of  the  gallery,  which 
the  old  enfeebled  keeper  opened  to  me.  After  the  delay  of  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  I  obtained  entrance,  and  found  many  persons 
there  before  me.  The  house  was  very  full  below  j  among  others 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  309 

Lord  North,  whom  I  discovered  on  the  treasury  bench  by  his  blue 
ribbon.  The  members  sit  with  their  hats  on,  but  always  uncover 
when  they  rise  to  speak,  and  on  departure  salute  the  chair  by  a 
bow.  The  speaker  is  always  covered,  and  with  the  clerks  habited 
in  black  gowns;  after  some  time  he  commanded  to  order,  and 
some  members  to  their  seats  ;  then  directing  his  looks  to  a  Mr. 
Minchin  with  'a  motion  of  his  head,  the  member  arose,  when  a  pro 
found  silence  ensued,  and  continued  to  be  strictly  observed  through 
the  whole  of  the  speech.  He  began  by  informing  the  house  of  a 
motion  he  had  to  make  and  the  subject  of  it,  viz. :  That  a  regular 
and  intelligible  account  should  be  rendered  of  the  money  granted 
by  parliament  for  the  navy,  for  which  inquiry  and  motion  he  as 
signed  three  reasons ;  one  being  the  waste  in  expenditure.  The 
proof  of  this  article  arose  from  thirteen  ships,  of  which  he  men 
tioned  one  instance  only  as  a  specimen;  the  others  were  in  the 
same  predicament.  The  Narcissus,  in  1772,  was  estimated  at 
£3,000,  to  complete  with  guns  and  stores ;  on  estimate  of  1778 
she  was  put  in  at  £5,000 ;  in  1779  £5,500 ;  and  in  1780  at 
£3,600  ;  in  the  total  £17,100.  At  the  end  of  that  period  she  lay 
in  dock  untouched,  without  a  farthing's  \vorth  of  stores  or  one  gun 
on  board,  and  in  the  same  unfit,  unrepaired  condition  as  at  first. 
During  the  course  of  his  speech  he  was  now  and  then  interrupted 
by  a  murmur  on  the  other  side  the  house,  which  was  at  times  suc 
ceeded  by  "  hear  him,  hear  him"  and  very  generally  attended  to. 
Sir  George  Young  followed,  but  was  less  minded.  Sir  Charles 
Bunbury  spoke  next,  who  made  a  long  and  more  formal  oration  on 
same  side,  pretty  well  listened  to,  and  frequently  complimented 
with  "  hear  him,  hear  him  /"  which  expression  was  also  used  to  two 
men  who  followed,  viz.  Admiral  Keppel,  who  spoke  well,  and 
with  some  warmth,  and  Sir  Hugh  Palliser,  who  was  call;*'!,  by 
name  by  his  party.  He  arose  and  began  by  justifying  the  a«.imi- 
ralty,  attributing  the  present  state  of  the  navy,  though  respectable, 
to  malignant  influence  of  party,  which  has,  he  said,  diffused  itself 
effectually  into  the  king's  dock-yards,  teaching  the  inmates  to  form 
associations,  whereby  wise  measures  of  the  admiralty  had  in  some 
degree  been  defeated.  He  having  finished  and  set  down,  the  house 
resounded  with  "  Burke,  Burke  ;"  hereupon  the  Irish  orator  arose, 
and  in  a  loud  and  manly  voice,  with  singular  energy  and  compass 


310  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

of  expression,  and  a  torrent  of  eloquence,  reprobated  Sir  Hugh's 
account,  exposed  the  futility  of  his  arguments,  excited  universal 
attention,  and  frequently  raised  more  than  a  smile  in  the  features 
of  his  listening  hearers.  I  should  have  mentioned  Mr.  Penton,  one 
of  the  navy  board,  who  rose  next  to  the  motion  maker,  and  justi 
fied  the  accounts  rendered,  as  a  mode  adopted  and  by  experience 
found  the  best  for  more  than  a  century  past ;  to  which  the  reply 
was  that  he  had  mistaken  the  meaning  of  the  objections  in  three 
particulars. 

March  23.  With  Mr.  Danforth  fetched  a  long  walk  to 
Session  Green  in  Paddington  Road. 

TO  DR.  EDWARD  A.  HOLYOKE,  SALEM. 

London,  March  23,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Meeting  the  bearer  this  afternoon,  he  informed  me  of  his  in 
tended  departure  to-morrow  for  New-York.  The  shortness  of  the 
warning  puts  it  out  of  my  power  to  be  so  particular  in  my  answer 
to  your  agreeable  favor  as  it  was  my  determination  to  be.  In  my 
next,  if  I  can  procure  a  conveyance  not  exposed  to  state  inquisition, 
I  shall  fulfil  my  first  purpose.  I  am  now  to  acknowledge  the 
pleasing  and  interesting  relations  yours  conveyed,  and  arn  glad  that 
at  any  rate  our  native  country  is  and  has  been  free  from  those  op 
pressions,  sufferings,  and  distressing  evils  that  intestine  commotions 
and  rage  of  civil  war  have  subjected  our  unhappy  fellow-subjects 
in  the  southern  colonies  to.  Whether  you  have  had  real  enjoy 
ments  compared  to  its  confessedly  happy  days  within  our  remem 
brance,  I  pretend  not  to  affirm  or  deny ;  the  accounts  from  those 
who  have  for  these  two  or  three  years  since  escaped  from  thence 
and  took  refuge  here,  are  such  as  do  not  excite  the  most  fervent 
wishes  in  the  breasts  of  our  countrymen  here,  who  enjoy  peace  and 
the  comforts  of  life,  to  return  back  again  soon.  One  would  think 
from  the  establishment  of  an  academy  of  arts  and  sciences  at  a  time 
when  the  country  is  oppressed  by  a  destructive  war,  yet  uncertain 
of  the  event,  that  the  rulers  of  your  state  labored  under  I'etourdie 
des  hommes  du  bois,  or  possessed  the  magnanimity  of  the  old 
Roman  senators ;  be  that  as  it  may,  I  wish  its  continuance  and 
success. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  311 

I  am  now  going  to  relate  a  fact  you  would  perhaps  have 
thought  incredible ;  the  day  on  which  I  completed  two  hundred 
and  ninety-six  weeks'  residence  on  this  island,  favored  me  with  a 
sight  I  had  never  before  had,  of  that  extraordinary  person,  Lord 
North  ;  though  I  confess  curiosity  had  more  than  a  score  of  times 
led  me  to  the  lobby  of  the  commons  house  and  the  gallery,  but 
accident  procured  me  what  my  wishes  and  endeavors  had  failed  in 
hitherto  : — for  carelessly  strolling  without  design  into  Westminster 
Hall,  I  obtained  admission  to  the  gallery,  where  I  had  an  opportu 
nity  of  seeing  him  with  a  full  treasury  bench  and  house.  The 
great  Irish  born  orator,  Mr.  Burke,  spoke,  and  his  thundering 
elocution  fixed  the  attention  of  the  house,  and  his  wit  and  satire 
diverted  them,  and  produced  peals  of  laughter.  More  it  is  needless 
and  would  not  be  prudent  to  mention.  There  are  some  appear 
ances  that  the  Empress  of  Russia's  mediation  may  be  attended 
with  salutary  effects.  May  a  stop  be  put  to  the  further  effusion  of 
English  blood ;  too  much  has  been  spilt  already  in  this  destructive 
quarrel  for  independence. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jlpril  2.  Went  to  Leicester-square  to  pay  Mr.  R.  Clarke  a 
visit,  but  seeing  a  nobleman's  carriage  at  the  door,  presumed  he 
was  sitting  to  Mr.  Copley,  and  that  therefore  my  company  may  be 
inconvenient. 

Jlpril  3.  Abel  Willard  and  young  Borland  called  to-day  in 
my  absence,  and  left  their  address.  Called  on  Mr.  Dalglish,  and 
invited  him  to  accompany  me  to  Woolwich ;  he  readily  complying, 
we  walked  to  Charing  Cross  and  took  coach  to  Greenwich  ;  the 
stage  being  gone  from  thence,  we  walked  to  Woolwich,  about 
three  miles.  Passing  through  the  town,  we  went  on  towards  artillery- 
park,  wherein  is  an  immense  quantity  of  brass  and  iron  ordnance, 
mortars  and  shot  of  all  dimensions ;  passing  through  we  arrived  at 
the  place  where  the  convicts  were  employed  in  labor,  each  hav 
ing  a  chain  on  both  legs  just  long  enough  for  him  to  walk  conve 
niently,  with  a  string  tied  thereto  reaching  to  the  waist  to  keep  the 
chain  from  falling  down  to  the  ankles.  I  am  told  there  are  about 
five  hundred  employed,  bringing  dirt,  sand  and  gravel  from  barges 


312  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

on  small  carts,  some  in  wheeling  barrows,  others  in  various 
ways  as  they  are  qualified.  The  effects  of  their  labor  is  visible  in 
a  sea  wall  of  earth,  six  hundred  yards  long,  and  having  a  broad 
convenient  footpath  on  top  ;  they  are  now  employed  in  making  and 
sodding  a  new  artillery  parade.  1  could  not  refrain  from  many 
mortifying  reflections  on  the  sad  necessity  human  governments  are 
under  to  treat  with  such  severity  so  many  of  our  fellow-creatures, 
furnished  with  the  noble  powers  of  reason  and  understanding,  and 
capable  of  employing  them  to  the  most  useful  purposes.  Dined  at 
Crown  and  Anchor,  and  returned  by  eight  o'clock. 

April  5.  Mr.  Arthur  Savage  and  Mr.  F.  calling,  we  went  to 
St.  Lawrence  Jewry,  to  hear  a  sermon  to  the  governors  of  the  Lon 
don  Hospital,  from  the  excellent  and  worthy  Bishop  of  Chester, 
Dr.  Porteus.  He  possesses  a  good  enunciation  and  pleasant  voice, 
somewhat  earnest,  style  elegant,  periods  happy  and  finely  turned, 
without  any  appearance  of  art  or  affectation.  On  the  whole  he  is 
a  delightful  speaker,  never  failing  to  instruct  and  charm  a  serious 
and  attentive  hearer. 

Received  a  letter  from  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard,  inclosed  in  one 
from  Benjamin  Pickman  at  Warwick. 

April  6.  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Copley's,  with  whom  his  father-in- 
law,  Mr.  R.  Clark,  resides  ;  all  the  family  present. 

April  8.  Accompanied  Col.  Browne  to  hear  the  famed  pulpit 
orator,  Mr.  Duchee,  late  of  Philadelphia,  at  Tavistock  chapel, 
Broad-court,  Longacre,  who  figures  even  in  London.  His  per 
formance,  in  point  of  language  and  delivery,  greatly  pleased  us. 
Dined  and  passed  the  evening  at  Col.  Browne's. 

April  11.  Mr.  Sparhawk,  Rev.  Mr.  Peters,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Clark  took  tea  with  me. 

April  13.  Good-Friday.  To  Westminster  Abbey  ;  entering,! 
found  the  choir  shut ;  no  service,  or  over,  but  could  not  learn  which  ; 
so  totally  ignorant  or  unconcerned  are  people  here  in  general  of 
every  thing  not  their  immediate  business  or  pursuit.  Returning,  I 
stepped  :n  at  Whitehall  chapel,  the  Dean  of  Rochester  was  preach 
ing.  Lord  North  and  Judge  Oliver  attended  at  same  place,  though 
I  knew  it  not  till  informed  by  the  latter,  at  whose  house  I  drank 
tea,  a/id  there  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elisha  Hutchinson.  Since  my 
last  visit  to  Westminster  Abbey,  to  my  surprise  I  find  a  white  mar- 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  313 

ble  monument  erected  to  the  honor  of  Dr.  Isaac  Watts;  he  is 
represented  as  clad  in  a  loose  dress,  sitting  in  a  thoughtful  posture, 
his  head  covered  with  lank  hairs  resting  on  his  left  hand  ;  his  right 
leaning  on  a  table,  holding  a  pen,  denoting  his  having  just  finished 
a  sentence ;  his  arm  seized  and  grasped  by  a  female  figure,  in  loose 
attire,  which  I  suppose  to  represent  one  of  the  virtues. 

April  14.  Visited  Mr.  Maddocks  the  florist's  garden  at  Cam 
ber  well  ;  a  fine  show  of  auriculas  and  hyacinths. 

April  17.  Accompanied  Thomas  Goldthwait  to  "WiswalPs 
lodgings  by  his  desire,  he  having  called  on  me  for  that  purpose, 
in  order  to  offer  him  the  living  at  Dunmore  in  Essex,  which  the 
rector  gave  Mr.  Goldthwait  leave  to  offer  to  any  American  clergy 
man  out  of  employ.  The  terms  offered  were  fifty  pounds  salary, 
and  considerable  emoluments ;  for  life,  or  as  long  as  Mr.  Wiswall 
shall  please ;  the  neighborhood  is  represented  as  agreeable.  Met 
Samuel  Porter  and  sundry  others  of  my  countrymen  in  the  Park. 

April  18.  Evening  at  Covent  Garden,  to  see  "  A  new  way 
to  pay  old  debts;"  entertainment,  "  Barnaby  Brittle  ;"  this  part 
by  Quick,  who  also  acted  Justice  Greedy.  In  the  whole  were 
some  humorous  strokes, — many  low  ones, — all  applauded. 

April  19.  Went  to  Mr.  Benjamin  Thompson's  lodgings,  Pall 
Mall. 

April  21.  Went  to  see  a  model  of  ancient  Rome  ;  scale,  one 
inch  to  ninety  feet,  making  a  square  of  twelve  feet :  but  the  topo 
graphical  or  ground  scale  does  not  hold  with  respect  to  height  of 
buildings,  pillars,  etc.,  appearing  on  a  larger  scale.  Meeting  Mr. 
Timmins,  received  an  invitation  to  dine ;  and  at  two  o'clock  set 
off  for  his  house  on  foot ;  in  the  meantime,  Mr.  Wiswall  coming 
to  my  door,  instead  of  entering  pursued  his  design  of  walking. 
Directed  our  way  through  the  fields  to  Islington  Spa,  Saddler's 
Wells,  Bagnigge  Wells,  places  he  had  never  before  seen.  Re 
turned  by  the  way  of  Hatton  Garden  or  street ;  at  Mr.  Timmins's 
met  Gilbert  Harrison  ;  returned  home  modo  pedestri. 

April  25.  Rambled  with  Col.  Browne  round  Mary-le-Bone  ; 
in  the  neighborhood  of  a  spot,  late  gardens,  I  saw  for  first  time 
an  old  brick  building  called  Queen  Mary's  country  seat,  in  pretty 
nearly  the  same  condition  she  left  it  more  than  two  centuries  since; 
being  in  a  villa  some  miles  from  the  city  of  London,  in  its  then 

40 


314  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

circumscribed  limits,  three-fourths  of  the  way  to  it  now  built  being 
then  country.  It  is  low  studded  and  lofty  roof,  small  windows, 
many  juttings  and  projections ;  is  now  in  private  hands,  the  Duke 
of  Portland's,  and  is  used  as  a  boarding-school.  The  grounds  re 
main  unaltered. 

April  26.  Mr.  Goldthwait  and  Mr.  Danforth  dined  with  me  ; 
at  five  we  departed  by  assignment  to  Mrs.  Hay's ;  Col.  Browne 
and  lady  were  to  have  been  of  the  party,  which  accident  prevented. 
We  had  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson,  late  of  Boston,  and  Mr.  Greene, 
who  in  dress  equalled  a  nobleman  of  the  highest  rank  and  quality, 
girded  with  a  military  side  weapon. 

April  27.  Colonel  Erving  and  Mr.  Dalglish  called ;  the  latter 
for  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  commons'  house.  The  subject  of 
debate  was  the  East  India  officers, — the  motion  by  Lord  North  ; 
his  opponents  were  Burke,  Charles  J.  Fox,  etc. 

April  28.  Visited  my  friend  Governor  Browne  ;  confined  by 
an  ill  turn  which  seized  him  violently.  I  called  to  acquaint  Mrs. 
Browne,  that  "  Belle's  Stratagem"  was  to  be  acted  to-night, 
having  engaged  to  accompany  her  to  see  it, 

April  29,  Sunday.  At  Essex  House  chapel,  Dr.  Priestley 
preached  an  excellent  discourse ;  proving  beyond  contradiction 
that  religion  and  virtue  are  the  only  just  sources  of  true  delight  and 
joy,  or  as  he  modified  the  language,  of  settled,  calm  serenity  of 
mind.  It  was  a  discourse  worthy  a  Christian  divine,  and  happy 
would  those  be  on  whose  minds  those  blessed  truths  were  im 
pressed  in  indelible  characters.  Rev.  Mr.  Wiswall  was  by  my  in 
vitation  my  fellow-worshipper  at  Essex  House.  Afternoon  service, 
Mr.  Lindsay  preached.  My  companion  drank  tea  with  me,  ex 
pressing  in  conversation  his  professional  dislike  of  Mr.  Lindsay's 
attempt  to  reform  the  liturgy.  Religious  prejudice  is  the  unhappy 
leaven  of  a  narrow  education,  and  manifests  a  fettered  mind.  I 
hope  I  have  sufficient  reasons  to  rejoice  that  mine  is  free  from 
those  manacles.  I  plainly  see  it  may  be  politically  useful  to  state 
managers  and  hierarchists,  whose  views  extend  not  beyond  this 
present  mortal  state  ;  but  in  no  view  is  it  to  be  supported  on  the 
grounds  of  advancing  the  cause  of  truth  and  manly  sentiment,  and 
genuine,  unadulterated  Christianity. 

April  30.     Entered  Col.  and  Mrs.  Browne's  name  with  my 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  315 

own  for  admission  some  days  hence  at  British  Museum  j  list  filled 
for  two  or  three  days. 

May  4.  Dined  at  Col.  Browne's,  there  heard  of  Mrs.  Sar 
gent's  death.  Evening  waited  on  Mrs.  Browne  to  Covent  Garden 
theatre,  to  see  "  The  Duenna." 

May  7.  To  Mr.  Maddocks'  at  Walworth,  with  Mr.  Dalglish,  to 
see  his  fine  show  of  tulips,  which  unfavorable  weather  deforms 
greatly,  preventing  the  beautiful,  pleasing  display  that  might  other 
wise  be  expected. 

May  8.  Passed  forenoon  at  the  public  exhibition  of  paintings, 
sculpture,  and  drawings  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  Somerset  House, 
Strand.  A  great  concourse  of  well  dressed,  genteel  people,  as 
usual ;  large  exhibition  room  crowded,  but  my  good  fortune  secured 
an  advantageous  seat,  almost  central,  which  from  arrangement  and 
construction  of  room  and  pictures,  yielded  a  fuller  view  and  happier 
light ;  I  kept  in  close  connection  with  a  gentleman  of  taste  and 
judgment,  disposed  to  communicate,  and  seeming  happy  to  show 
off  and  please ;  by  him  I  was  entertained  and  instructed. 

May  23.  This  day  at  eleven  o'clock  entered  British  Museum. 
Dr.  Woide,  the  transcriber  and  publisher,  complaisantly  showed 
me  the  Alexandrian  manuscript  of  the  New  Testament,  favored  me 
with  many  ingenious  remarks,  and  read  me  several  passages  which 
I  confess  I  should  without  his  assistance  have  found  it  difficult  to 
hobble  through,  from  the  peculiar  manner  of  writing  then  used. 
It  is  said  to  be  older  than  the  Arian  controversy,  and  is  without 
the  seventh  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter  1st  Epistle  of  St.  John.  It  is 
written  in  Greek  capitals,  without  distinction  of  points  or  words, 
letters  following  in  equi-distant  spaces.  A  fac  simile  copy  is  now 
preparing  by  my  informant,  who  appears  learned,  and  is  very 
obliging.  After  having  gone  through  part  of  our  course  in  the 
rooms,  my  companions  Col.  and  Mrs.  Browne  appeared  and  joined 
us.  We  were  attended  by  Dr.  Solander ;  some  of  our  company 
were  persons  of  distinction,  Lady  Dowager  Wynne  and  her  young 
son  the  baronet,  and  several  others  whose  names  I  have  forgotten. 
Among  other  curiosities  were  shown  us  King  Edward  Vlth's 
journal,  written  with  his  own  hand — volumes  of  royal  letters,  etc. 
It  seems  all  letters  from  the  princes  of  Europe  to  one  another  are 
preserved,  and  after  death  of  writer  sent  back  to  their  respective 


316  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

courts  ;  they  are  of  one  size — seal  never  broken,  a  ribbon  through 
the  wax  is  cut  in  order  to  open  it.  Dr.  Solander  showed  us  an 
oyster-shell  of  a  roundish  form,  about  four  inches  over,  which  he 
said  was  valued  at  a  hundred  guineas ;  another  larger  beside  it,  of 
less  brilliant  water,  of  no  more  value  than  ten ;  they  both  had  a 
faint  mother  of  pearl  cast.  On  returning  home  found  a  letter  from 
Arthur  Savage,  informing  me  of  Mr.  Thompson's  compliments  and 
wish  to  see  me  at  eleven  o'clock  to-morrow,  at  his  lodgings. 

May  24.  Went  early  in  order  to  be  at  Mr.  Benjamin  Thomp 
son's  in  time,  and  being  a  little  before,  heard  he  was  not  returned 
home  from  Lord  George  Germaine's,  where  he  always  breakfasts, 
dines  and  sups,  so  great  a  favorite  is  he.  To  kill  half  an  hour,  I 
loitered  to  the  park  through  the  palace,  and  on  second  return  found 
him  at  his  lodgings ;  he  received  me  in  a  friendly  manner,  taking 
me  by  the  hand,  talked  with  great  freedom,  and  promised  to  re 
member  and  serve  me  in  the  way  I  proposed  to  him.  Promises  are 
easily  made,  and  genteel  delusive  encouragement  the  staple  arti 
cle  of  trade  belonging  to  the  courtier's  profession.  I  put  no  hopes 
on  the  fair  appearances  of  outward  behavior,  though  it  is  uncandid 
to  suppose  all  mean  to  deceive.  Some  wish  to  do  a  service  who 
have  it  not  in  their  power  ;  all  wish  to  be  thought  of  importance 
and  significancy,  and  this  often  leads  to  deceit.  This  young  man, 
w?hen  a  shop  lad  to  my  next  neighbor,  ever  appeared  active,  good- 
natured  and  sensible ;  by  a  strange  concurrence  of  events,  he  is 
now  under  secretary  to  the  American  secretary  of  state,  Lord  George 
Germaine,  a  secretary  to  Georgia,  inspector  of  all  the  clothing  sent 
to  America,  and  Lieut.  Col.  Commandant  of  horse  dragoons  at 
New-York  ;  his  income  arising  from  these  sources  is,  I  have  been 
told,  near  seven  thousand  a  year — a  sum  infinitely  beyond  his  most 
sanguine  expectations.  He  is  besides  a  member  of  the  Royal  So 
ciety.  It  is  said  he  is  of  an  ingenious  turn,  an  inventive  imagina 
tion,  and  by  being  on  one  cruise  in  channel  service  with  Sir  Charles 
Hardy,  has  formed  a  more  regular  and  better  digested  system  for 
signals  than  that  heretofore  used.  He  seems  to  be  of  a  happy,  even 
temper  in  general  deportment,  and  reported  of  an  excellent  heart ; 
peculiarly  respectful  to  Americans  that  fall  in  his  way.* 

*  Afterwards  the  celebrated  Count  Rumford. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  317 

Mem.  A  letter  has  been  intercepted  and  published  here, 
thought  by  some  to  be  a  genuine  production  and  unintentionally 
fallen  into  British  hands,  signed  Geo.  Washington,  showing  his 
opinion  of  American  inability  to  support  this  burdensome  and  ex 
pensive  war,  unless  France  and  other  allies  bestir  themselves  and 
lend  more  essential  aid  than  hirherto ;  meeting  Mr.  Paxton  and 
Treasurer  Gray,  they  both  agreed  in  sentiment  that  it  is  a  genuine 
letter,  and  dictated  by  real  judgment. 

Drank  tea  at  Mrs.  Greene's  by  appointment ;  met  Mr.  Wis- 
wall,  who  was  just  going  to  his  cure  in  Oxford.  At  his  request  I 
jumped  into  the  carriage  with  him,  and  alighted  at  Crosskeys, 
Gracechurch-street;  thence  to  Boar's  Head,  Eastcheap,  and  in  the 
identical  spot  where  Nym,  Pistol,  Bardolph,  Hal,  and  Sir  John 
Falstaff  were  wont  to  assemble  together  to  pass  their  jovial  even 
ings  three  hundred  years  since ;  after  a  regale  of  punch  to  the 
remembrance  of  these  jovial  blades,  we  returned  to  Crosskeys. 

June  5.  Visited  Governor  Browne  and  Mrs.  Browne,  both  un 
well  ;  promised  to  dine  with  them  the  last  of  the  week. 

June  8.     Mr.  Erving  called. 

June  11.  Visited  Mrs.  Greene  and  Abel  Willard  ;  drank  tea 
with  Mrs.  Councel  ;  a  Mr.  Codner  and  Jones,  both  late  from  Boston, 
there ;  no  material  intelligence  obtained  from  them.  They  say 
provisions  are  double  in  price  to  usual  in  former  happy  times. 
Never  did  an  infatuated  people  wanton  away  their  felicity  more 
foolishly. 

June  13.     Dined  and  passed  the  evening  at  Col.  Browne's. 

June  19.  Paid  farewell  compliments  to  Elisha  Hutchinson, 
going  soon  to  his  summer  residence  at  Birmingham. 

June  22.  Through  Moorfields  came  across  a  mountebank  or 
stage  doctor,  on  an  elevated  scaffold,  covered  with  a  ragged  blanket, 
discoursing  to  the  more  dirty-faced  ragged  mob;  demonstrating  to 
their  satisfaction,fno  doubt,  the  superior  excellence  of  his  nostrums  to 
those  of  the  dispensary,  and  the  more  safe  and  secure  state  of  patients 
under  his  management  than  hospitals  and  common  receptacles  of 
sick  and  wounded  poor ;  whose  lives,  health,  and  ease,  he  said  truly, 
were  as  dear  to  them  as  those  of  the  best  gentry  or  highest  nobility 
in  the  land;  and  he  further  added,  of  as  much  use  to  the  public, 
which  for  aught  I  know  is  equally  true. 


318  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

June  23.  Went  to  Col.  Browne's  to  take  the  last  farewell  of 
him  and  Mrs.  Browne,  about  to  depart  to  his  government  at  Ber 
muda  ;  never  more  expecting  to  see  them  again  in  this  world. 

June  25.  Young  Gould,  a  Bostonian,  bound  to  New-York, 
offered  to  take  letters. 

June  26.  Capt.  Coombs  from  New  England  via  New-York, 
whither  he  fled  to  escape  persecution,  as  he  said,  (a  Marblehead 
refugee,)  called  and  breakfasted  with  me ;  strolled  together  to  Ty 
burn,  and  returned  by  the  square  lying  north  of  the  city.  Carried 
him  home  to  dinner,  thence  to  Chelsea ;  returning  by  Brompton, 
met  Treasurer  Gray  and  Mr.  Paxton  ;  the  latter  at  first  sight  recol 
lecting,  accosted  me,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  politely  and 
with  great  openness.  The  traces  of  his  countenance  have  been 
lost  in  my  memory,  and  I  should  have  passed  him. 

June  28.  At  New  England  Coffee-house;  saw  more  Bos- 
tonians  than  for  some  years  past. 

June  29.  Went  to  see  the  house  in  which  the  noted  Jane 
Shore  died ;  found  that  it  was  demolished  four  years  since,  and  a 
new  one  erected  on  the  spot,  in  three  small  tenements,  which 
stand  in  a  lane  directly  facing  Watergruel-row,  so  called.  Was 
informed  that  an  underground  communication  had  been  discovered 
between  that  house  and  Bishop  Bonner's  palace  in  that  neighbor 
hood. 

July  2.     Wm.  Cabot  and  Capt.  Coombs  drank  tea  with  me. 

July  4.  Mr.  A.  Savage  and  Mr.  T.  Danforth  called  and  took 
coffee  with  me. 

July  9.  Meeting  Mr.  Deputy  Ellis  at  a  bookseller's  in  Corn- 
hill,  who  resolved  my  doubt  about  the  meaning  of  the  word  molten, 
as  applied  in  Scripture  to  images  or  figures  in  brass  on  metal ;  sig 
nifying  melted. 

July  10.  Left  a  note  for  Mr.  A.  Savage  at  Knightsbridge,  to 
acquaint  him  that  Mr.  Erving  had  been  to  appoint  to-morrow  to 
call  on  him. 

July  12.  Visited  Mrs.  Hay ;  there  met  two  Wlnthrops,  one 
of  whom,  Thomas  Lindall  Winthrop,*  had  lately  arrived  from  New 
England  in  Captain  Timothy  Folger's  ship. 

*  The  late  Lieut.  Governor  of  Massachusetts  j  the  other  was  his  brother 
Benjamin  Winthrop,  now  of  this  city,  who  then  resided  in  London. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  319 

July  14.  Accompanied  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snelson  to  Windsor ; 
passing  by  Hammersmith,  stopped  at  Turnharn-Green ;  from  hence 
to  Staines,  where  we  dined.  At  seven  o'clock  arrived  at  "  Castle 
and  Mermaid"  Windsor.  Evening,  walked  on  terrace  in  the 
castle  ;  a  pleasing  prospect,  filled  with  promiscuous  company. 

Windsor,  July  15,  Sunday.     At  St.  George's  chapel,  prayers 
at   eight ;  present,  the  King,  Queen,  Princesses  Elizabeth  and 
Sophia, — about  a  hundred  hearers  j  we  joined  the  train  to  Queen's 
house,  or  rather  to  the  gates.     The  King  was  dressed  in  blue  fly? 
cuffs  small,  open,  and  turned  up  with  red  velvet,  cape  of  same, 
buttons  white,  breeches  and  waiscoat  of  white  cotton,  an  ordinary 
white  wig  with  a  tail  ribbon,  a  round  black  chip  hat,  small,  as 
used  in  riding.     He  is  tall,  square  over  the  shoulders,  large  ugly 
mouth,  talks  a  great  deal,  and  shows  his  teeth  too  much ;  his 
countenance  heavy  and  lifeless,  with  white  eyebrows.     Queen  of 
the  middle  size  and  bulk,  height  five  feet  and  a-half, — though  far 
removed  from  beautiful,  she  has  an  open  placid  aspect,  mouth 
large,  foot  splay  : — at  prayers  their  voices  often  heard,  and  they 
appeared  devout.     They  take  no  state  upon  them,  walk  freely 
about  the  town  with  only  a  lord  in  waiting.     At  seven,  every 
evening  after  tea,  the  King,  Queen,  Prince  of  Wales,  Princess- 
royal,  Princesses  Sophia  and  Elizabeth,  walk  for  an  hour  on  ter 
race  half  a  mile  long,  amidst  two  or  three  thousand  people  of  all 
ranks.     The  Prince  of  Wales  appears  a  likely  agreeable  person, 
far  more  graceful  than  his  father,  who  is  ungainly.     The  prince 
affects  much  the  "Jemmy"   dress  and  air;  age  will   doubtless 
soften  down  the  juvenile  taste  and  affectation.    The  Queen's  dress? 
a  riding-habit,  same  color  and  facings  as  the  King's — a  small 
bonnet  with  a  blue  feather.     Conducted  to  picture  gallery  and 
state-rooms;  in  one  stands  the  Queen's  bed,  of  a  cream-color, 
worked  in  flowers  with  silk  floss  beautifully  shaded,  about  seven 
feet  long  and  six  wide ;  posts  fluted,  and  gilt  tester,  having  in  the 
centre  an  oval  compartment,  thought  to  be  the  richest  in  England 
except  Lady  Clifford's  at  Wybrook,  which  was  wrought  and  pre 
sented  to  her  by  the  late  Duchess  of  Norfolk, — twelve  chairs  and 
a  screen,  wrought  by  her  present  Majesty's  own  diligent  hand.   In 
the  evening  on  the  terrace,  the  King  was  in  full  dress, — blue  uni 
form,  sword  and  cockade  ;  the  Prince  of  Wales  the  same.     The 


320  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

Queen  in  a  faint  greenish  silk  full  dress,  except  her  head,  on  which 
she  had  a  bonnet  with  a  feather  of  the  same  color  as  her  dress. 

July  16.  Crossed  the  river  to  Eton  college  or  school,  passing 
through  cloisters  and  quadrangles.  I  learnt  from  a  lad  that  there 
were  three  hundred  and  thirty  pupils  belonging  to  the  school ;  the 
higher  class  had  on  gowns  and  caps  of  university  fashion.  After 
breakfast,  at  castle,  to  hear  the  roll-call  of  Lord  Falconberg's  regi 
ment,  now  on  duty,  and  hear  the  music ;  two  bands  of  which  were 
playing  while  the  royal  family  were  walking  last  evening.  Took 
our  carriage  and  departed  over  Cranbrook  bridge,  and  at  two 
o'clock  arrived  at  the  Eight,  so  called,  being  a  little  island  of  two 
acres  in  the  river  Thames,  opposite  Kew,  just  above  the  bridge. 
We  came  hither  expecting  to  have  a  fine  dinner,  but  the  boat  had 
been  robbed  by  some  Londoners ;  were  disappointed.  Arrived  at 
lodgings  at  seven  o'clock. 

July  17.  Took  Captain  Coombs  to  dine  with  me  at  the 
"  Thirteen  Cantons;  " — called  on  A.  Savage.  Spoke  to  Mr.  Rowe 
of  Treasury  about  Captain  Coombs;  he  encourages  his  application 
to  Lord  North. 

July  23.  Met  Mr.  R.  Clarke  on  horseback  near  Charing 
Cross;  walked  in  Charter-House  square  and  gardens;  am  told 
the  number  of  men  supported  by  the  founder's  munificence  is  four 
score,  besides  forty  boys. 

July  25.  Rode  to  Enfield  to  inquire  respecting  board  ;  result 
unsatisfactory.  I  rambled  to  the  borders  of  the  Chase,  now  laid 
out  in  corn  and  grass,  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  neighborhood. 
In  this  town  is  a  large,  and  for  the  age  it  was  built  in,  a  lofty 
house  of  three  floors,  which  had  been  the  residence  of  Queen  Eli 
zabeth  ;  having  on  the  walls  within  the  court,  the  arms  of  England 
quartered  with  the  fleur-de-lis  of  France,  and  Q.  E.  inscribed  over 
in  plaster  of  Paris,  almost  obliterated  by  time  and  weather.  Re 
turned  home  on  foot  without  much  fatigue. 

July  26.  Called  for  an  interview  with  Mr.  Benjamin  Thomp 
son  ;  he  and  Lord  George  Germaine  not  returned  from  the 
country. 

July  27.  Called  again  on  Mr.  Thompson ;  neither  he  nor 
Lord  George  returned.  Passed  two  hours  in  Mr.  Waller's  front 
dining-room,  to  have  a  sight  of  the  French  spy,  De  la  Motte,  who 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  321 

was  dragged  on  a  hurdle  to  place  of  execution,  Tyburn,  to  be 
hanged  ;  tall  and  well  grown, — dress  black,  flapped  hat. 

July  28.  Went  with  Mr.  Arthur  Savage  on  a  curiosity  walk, 
to  gaze  at  Chiswick  House  and  gardens ;  by  a  card  (without  which 
none  are  admitted)  we  found  an  entrance.  It  is  a  seat  belonging 
to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  but  forsaken  by  him.  It  was  left  him 
by  its  former  owner,  the  late  Earl  of  Burlington.  It  is  properly  a 
miniature  building,  and  in  a  peculiar  taste;  not  a  room  I  think 
twenty  feet  square,  many  smaller.  The  walls  are  covered  with 
pictures,  some  fine  originals,  principally  copies ;  grounds  covered 
with  sphinxes  and  urns.  Walks  in  Chinese  taste,  long,  straight,  and 
gravelled ;  cut  hedges.  From  a  terrace  is  a  beautiful  view  over 
a  delightfully  improved  country,  bounded  by  surrounding  hills,  in 
terspersed  with  gentlemen's  seats;  farm  houses,  live  hedges,  corn 
grounds,  pastures  with  trees  in  rows,  clumps  and  wildernesses.  In 
the  grounds  are  a  few  temples  and  porticoes.  Having  satisfied 
curiosity,  as  far  as  time  would  admit,  we  entered  the  road  and  be 
gan  our  homeward  course,  and  arrived  at  three  o'clock. 

July  29.  Dined  at  Capt.  Hay's,  by  invitation  card  of  yester 
day,  with  Mr.  Dan  forth,  and  also  Mrs.  Geyer,  just  arrived  from 
New-York. 

July  30.  Went  to  Westminster  Abbey  to  meet  Mr.  Savage 
by  agreement,  to  explain  to  him  the  meaning  of  mottoes  under 
arms  of  the  knights  of  the  bath  in  Henry  Vllth's  chapel.  Saw,  for 
the  first  time,  Lord  Chatham's  effigy  in  wax,  having  the  wig,  shoes, 
robes,  etc.,  he  had  on  when  he  expired  in  the  House  of  Lords ; 
said  to  be  very  like  him,  but  very  unlike  every  cut  of  him  that  had 
before  come  to  my  view. 

July  31.  Dined  with  Mr.  Simpson  and  Mr.  Higginson,  and 
abode  there  till  four  o'clock ;  returned,  and  Mr.  Smithson  drank 
tea  with  me. 

Aug.  1.  Capt.  Coombs  breakfasted  with  me ;  accompanied 
him  to  the  Treasury,  in  order  to  put  his  petition,  with  Sir  William 
Pepperell's  recommendation,  into  Mr.  Rowe's  hands ;  who  returned 
it,  advising  to  a  further  attestation  of  the  alleged  facts.  Return 
ing,  we  stepped  into  Lincoln's  Inn  Hall,  where  was  sitting  Lord 
Chancellor  Thurlow  in  a  case  of  lunacy,  from  whence  I  departed 

41 


322  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

alone  and  dined  at  home.     Drank  tea  with  Harrison  Gray  and  wife 
at  Brompton. 

Aug.  3.  Called  at  Mr.  Thompson's  lodgings,  in  Pall  Mall 
Court  -  disappointed — went  to  show  Mr.  Savage  the  grave  of 
Judge  Chambers  Russell,  in  Bunhill  Fields  burying  ground ;  which 
at  sixty  pounds  expense  has  but  a  common  grave  stone.  Thence 
to  the  poor  remains  of  a  once  royal  palace,  of  which  the  outer  gate 
way  (St.  John's  Gate)  is  now  standing,  and  only  that;  the  site  is 
now  a  cowyard  and  stable ;  so  where  once  royalty  was  lodged, 
beasts  inhabit. 

Aug.  4.  Again  disappointed  in  not  finding  Mr.  Thompson  at 
his  house,  nor  at  the  Treasury. 

Aug.  6.  Took  tea  at  Mr.  Copley's,  with  Mr.  R.  Clarke  and  the 
family. 

Aug.  8.  In  conversation  with  Mr.  Peters,  was  informed  that  it 
is  and  has  been  all  along  the  determination  of  the  cabinet  to  set  up 
the  noblemen's  claim  against  New  England  charters,  annihilate  all 
of  them,  and  reduce  the  surviving  inhabitants  to  a  state  of  villen- 
age,  or  expel  them.  He  says  he  has  sufficient  authority  to  assert 
this.  Cruel,  barbarous  determination  !  May  heaven  disappoint  their 
cursed  device  against  innocence,  justice,  right,  humanity,  and  every 
laudable  principle  and  virtue.  May  America  and  my  countrymen, 
more  dear  to  me  than  ever,  be  made  acquainted  with  this  more  than 
brutual  cruelty ;  may  disappointment  be  the  issue  of  their  attempts, 
vexation  and  every  evil  the  reward  of  such  unexampled,  oppressive, 
rapacious  designs,  for  it  is  but  yet  in  embryo,  never,  I  hope,  to  see 
the  light.  I  doubt  not  heaven  has  in  store  ample  revenge  for  this 
devoted  country,  whose  rulers  seem  infatuated,  and  themselves  on 
the  verge  of  ruin  thereby. 

Jlug.  9.     Mr.  Jones,  a  Bostonian,  drank  tea  with  me. 

Aug.  11.  After  one  hour's  waiting,  admitted  to  Mr.  Thompson 
in  the  plantation  office ;  he  seemed  inclined  to  shorten  the  inter 
view,  received  me  with  a  courtier's  smile,  rather  uncommunicative 
and  dry.  This  reception  has  damped  my  ill  grounded  hopes,  de 
rived  from  former  seeming  friendly  intentions  to  promote  my  views ; 
this,  my  first,  will  be  my  last  attempt  to  gain  advantages  from  a 
courtier,  of  which  I  never  entertained  favorable  impressions. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  323 

Aug.  18.  Took  tea  and  passed  the  evening  at  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hay's. 

Aug.  21.     Dined  at  Capt.  Hay's,  with  four  gentlemen. 

Aug.  24.  To  the  Gresham  lecture  room  to  see  Copley's  picture 
of  Lord  Chatham's  death. 

Sept.  4.  Took  tea  with  Dr.  Jeffries,  of  Boston,  a  son  of  David 
Jeffries. 

TO  MR.  THOMAS  WYER,  NEW-YORK. 

London,  Sept.  12,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Having  the  other  day  met  Mr.  Berry,  who  informed  me  you 
were  settled  in  New-York  with  your  wife,  and  that  he  would  take 
charge  of  a  letter  and  deliver  it  into  your  hands,  I  am  encouraged 
to  send  this  scrawl  that  serves  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours 
of  a  distant  date,  and  thank  you  for  it.  I  hope  your  situation  is 
comfortable,  though,  at  best,  a  man  in  the  civil  or  commercial  line 
has  many  reasons  of  complaint  in  a  garrison  of  disorderly,  licentious 
soldiers.  I  am  glad  to  be  informed  that  you  are  employed  in  busi 
ness,  and  hope  it  will  turn  out  to  good  account. 

It  has  been  my  wish  ever  since  I  have  been  from  my  own  home, 
that  all  who  are  in  a  state  of  exile,  whether  voluntary  or  not,  ex 
cept  those  immediately  concerned  in  the  revenue,  who  could  not 
have  remained  in  America,  had  been  prudent  enough  to  have  kept 
their  political  opinions  to  themselves,  especially  after  the  frenzy 
had  worked  itself  up  so  high  in  the  minds  of  our  zealous  patriot 
neighbors,  and  remained  at  their  own  dwellings,  and  made  the  best 
shifts  they  could  in  these  troubles.  They  might,  I  really  think,  dave 
found  themselves,  for  the  most  part,  in  less  disagreeable  circum 
stances  than  they  now  are  ;  at  least  I  can  truly  say  it  respecting 
my  own  particular  case.  But  the  bad  consequences  of  past  errors 
are  now  only  to  be  lessened  by  a  prudent  forbearance  of  harsh  re 
proachful  language  against  the  present  rulers  in  the  American 
colonies  that  remain  in  subjection  to  Congress  authority  ;  for  what 
ever  you  warm  transatlantic  loyalists  may  think,  it  is  probable, 
however  the  general  war  may  terminate,  there  never  will  be  estab 
lished  such  a  degree  of  British  governmental  authority  in  North 
America  as  will  cause  much  matter  of  triumph  to  American 


324  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

refugees.  I  wish  America  would  dissolve  the  execrable  French  al 
liance,  that  they  have  sufficient  reasons  already  to  detest,  and  which 
will,  if  continued  much  longer,  issue  in  greater  ruin. 

We  are  now  hemmed  in  by  the  combined  fleets  of  France  and 
Spain,  to  the  number  of  forty-nine  capital  ships,  and  eleven  frigates, 
which  have  been  cruising  for  some  time  in  the  chops  of  the  English 
Channel.  Ours,  under  Admiral  Derby,  is  at  present  in  Torbay.  A 
large  East  and  West  India  fleet  is  hourly  expected  under  a  slender 
convoy ;  but  government  has  taken  the  precaution  to  send  out 
some  fast  sailing  cutters  to  apprise  them  of  the  danger. 
Wishing  you  success  and  safety, 

I  am  your  friend, 

S.    CURWEN. 

Sept.  27.  Accompanied  Messrs.  Savage  and  Toulmin  to  Drury 
Lane,  to  see  "  School  for  Scandal,"  which  was  highly  entertaining. 
On  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Cargill,  appointed  to  one  of  the  parts, 
a  general  hiss,  followed  by  an  unusual  clap  of  approbation,  for 
some  minutes  kept  on  to  discountenance  the  hiss,  occasioned  by  her 
whimsical  caprices  and  rude  disappointment  of  the  public  at  Hay- 
market  Theatre  about  two  months  since.  She  is  a  pleasing  per 
former  and  public  favorite. 

Oct.  2.  Took  tea  and  passed  the  evening  at  Mr.  John  Savage's 
with  Mr.  A.  Savage,  except  a  walk  to  Chelsea  Hospital. 

Oct.  9.  Papers  say  Adam  Woolridge  is  appointed  American 
secretary's  deputy,  in  lieu  of  Mr.  Fisher,  who  now  holds  the  office. 
Mr.  A.  Savage  dined  and  passed  the  evening  with  me. 

Oct.  15.  Went  over  to  Chelsea;  met  Mr.  Benjamin  Hal- 
lowell  there.  Another  countryman,  Commodore  Loring,  discharged 
from  pension  list  by  death,  and  another  going  same  way ;  Brigadier 
Royall  seized  with  small-pox,  with  hazardous  symptoms.  Capt. 
Coombs  dined  with  me. 

Oct.  18.  Thirteen  criminals  executed  at  Tyburn — a  melan 
choly  consideration  that  robberies  have  of  late  greatly  increased, 
as  indeed  has  thieving  of  all  kinds  in  the  metropolis. 

Oct.  20.     Mr.  Arthur  Savage,  and  Miss  S.,  and  Mr.  John  Sav 
age,  lady  and  son,  drank  tea  with  me.     By  the  papers  I  find  some 
Salem  privateers  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 
Oct.  30.    Dined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hay. 


1781.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  325 

TO  SAMUEL  SEWALL,  ESa,  SIDMOUTH. 

London,  Oct.  30,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Inclosed  is  a  bank  post  bill  for  £24=  6s.  8d.,  the  balance  of 
your  quarterly  pension  of  .£25  ;  and  while  I  reside  in  London  will, 
with  great  readiness,  serve  you  or  any  acquaintance  in  this  or  any 
way  in  my  power. 

You  wish  me  to  write  you  favorable  news  from  America; 
would  to  God  such  was  to  be  found  written  in  the  book  of  fate. 

Respecting  the  state  of  the  war  in  that  quarter :  the  French, 
you  know,  are  in  possession  of  the  Chesapeake,  with  a  much  supe 
rior  fleet  to  that  of  Great  Britain ;  for  they  reckon  thirty-six  capital 
ships  to  our  twenty-four,  even  after  Digby's  junction.  General 
Cornwallis's  royal  master  is  in  the  utmost  distress  for  him,  whom  all 
the  world  here  fears  to  hear  will  have  been  Burgoyned,  and  there 
fore  an  end  to  this  cursed,  ill-omened  quarrel,  though  not  in  a  way 
they  wish  ;  for  which  the  instigators  and  continuers  deserve  exe 
cration.  It  is,  however,  reported  that  twenty  thousand  men  are 
to  be  shipped  off  to  America  in  February,  part  of  whom  are  the 
five  thousand  before  destined  to  the  East  Indies. 

I  am  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

JVbu.  20.  Letters  from  New-York  inform  us  that  New  London, 
in  Connecticut,  is  burnt,  with  all  the  shipping,  by  six  hundred 
American  Associators,  so  called,  leagued  in  a  band  of  destruction 
against  their  native  country  :  together  with  the  loss  of  lives  and 
properties  of  the  inhabitants,  the  assailants  left  of  their  number 
two  hundred  dead  on  the  spot;  their  death  the  just  punishment  due 
to  such  parricides. 

By  the  king's  speech  I  find  he  intends,  if  parliament  will  fur 
nish  men  and  money,  to  continue  his  efforts  to  reduce  his  rebellious 
subjects  in  America  to  his  royal  will  and  pleasure,  and  his  other 
enemies  to  his  own  terms,  if  he  can  ;  and  no  doubt  they  will  con 
tinue  to  furnish  both  as  long  as  they  last,  and  until  they  shall  fairly 
and  completely  have  dried  up  all  the  sources,  which,  perhaps,  a  few 
more  expensive,  unsuccessful  campaigns  will  effectually  accomplish. 
Would  that  this  nation  or  its  rulers  were  wise  enough  to  sit  down 


326  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 

by  its  present  losses,  and  make  the  best  of  what  remains.  Com 
merce  and  conquest  are  two  things  in  nature  very  unlike,  and  re 
quire  very  different  geniuses  in  carrying  on  ;  and  which  is  most 
congenial  and  natural  to  these  islanders  is  obvious. 

Nov.  22.  The  wind  continues  westerly,  detaining  Admiral 
Rodney's  fleet  of  eight  ships  of  the  line  in  Torbay,  bound  for  the 
West  Indies.  The  court  and  all  apprehend  some  great  blow  there, 
as  they  have  reason  from  the  great  superiority  of  the  French  fleet 
gone  from  Charleston  since  Cornwallis's  surrender  on  the  19th  ult., 
of  himself,  officers,  army,  baggage,  artillery,  ammunition,  de guerre 
and  de  bouche,  to  the  American  General  George  Washington,  of 
whom  some  of  the  wise  men  of  this  country  speak  with  undeserved 
contempt.  This  being  the  second  instance  that  has  happened  to  the 
best  forces  of  this  continent,  and  perhaps  the  first  of  the  kind  that 
ever  befell  this  haughty  America-despising  people.  And  the 
flight  of  two  English  admirals,  with  a  frequently  declared  superior 
fleet,  Graves  and  Digby,  (under  the  auspicious  eye  of  one  of  the 
royal  offspring,  Prince  William  Henry,  who  is  training  up,  and  I 
hope  will  prove  an  ornament  and  a  useful  naval  commander,)  to 
New-York  with  Clinton  and  his  garrison  of  cooped-up  troops,  who 
for  a  few  weeks  having  breathed  free  air,  are  now  chiefly  return 
ing  back  to  their  winter  amusements  and  useful  employment  of  dan 
cing,  card-playing,  acting  farces  on  mock  stages,  and  decorating 
their  pretty  persons  for  the  astonishment  and  delight  of  their  female 
admirers. 

Adieu  to  the  character  which  once  justly  enough  distinguished 
the  army  and  navy  of  this  little  empire ! 

Nov.  23.  Overtaken  in  the  Park  by  a  former  travelling  com 
panion,  named  Aspdin,  of  Philadelphia,  on  horseback ;  he  recog 
nised  me  after  an  interval  of  four  years. 

TO  MR.  ANDREW  DALGLISH,  GLASGOW. 

London,  Nov.  25,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

London,  as  you  justly  observe,  to  a  pushing  man  and  of  abili 
ties  is  the  place  to  gain  great  advantages,  if  he  knows  the  world 
and  how  to  avail  himself  of  lucky  incidents,  and  is  attentive  to 
them ;  but  to  one  of  a  contrary  character  it  is  far  otherwise. 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  327 

Your  request  of  my  service  need  not  be  twice  asked,  if  I  know  how 
to  perform  any  thing  essential  for  you,  or  any  friend ;  but  being 
placed  by  Providence  out  of  the  reach  of  rendering  services,  I  am 
endeavoring  to  reason  myself  into  the  belief  that  I  stand  in  need  of 
none  myself,  though  possessing  very  little  more  than  the  necessa 
ries  of  life  ;  'tis  a  hard  task,  though  if  attended  with  success,  shall 
not  grudge  my  pains.  Our  townsman,  Mr.  Fisher,  holds  a  quar 
tered,  precarious  office,  at  I  fancy  less  than  half  its  real  income, 
in,  under,  and  returnable  to  Mr.  Thompson,  when  he  shall  come 
back,  which  I  doubt  not  will  be  in  the  spring  or  summer  following. 
Clerkships,  as  all  offices  under  government,  are  at  open  mar 
ket,  and  bought  and  sold  as  public  stocks,  the  premium  four,  five, 
or  six  years'  income.  The  Treasury  Coffee-house,  under  the 
arches,  is  the  place  where  the  sellers  or  brokers  are  to  be  seen  at 
business  hours.  If  you  have  any  connections  that  can  recommend 
you  to  men  of  influence,  and  can  really  engage  their  interest,  (for 
promises  are  the  courtier's  traffick,  and  mean  nothing;  people  of 
breeding  are  too  polite  to  disoblige  in  any  other  way  but  by  neg 
lect,)  you  may  succeed ;  without,  it  will  beVain  to  attempt.  Merit 
is  disregarded,  implying  a  demand.  Here  it  is  not  asked  what  you 
have  done,  but  what  you  are  capable  of  doing,  is  worth  attending 
to.  In  whatever  line  you  direct  your  views,  I  sincerely  wish  suc 
cess  ;  you  might  assuredly  depend  on  my  aid  if  it  could  or  can  be 
of  any  use  to  you. 

With  real  and  hearty  good  will, 

I  am  your  friend, 

S.    CURWEN. 

JVbv.  26.  Going  through  the  Park,  I  found  great  numbers 
there  waiting  for  the  king's  passing  to  the  parliament  house,  being 
first  day  of  session,  when  it  is  opened  by  a  speech  from  the  throne  ; 
the  king  in  his  robes,  crown  on  his  head,  which,  if  capable  of  feel 
ing,  must  I  think  feel  more  distress  than  at  any  time  since  his  brows 
bore  this  emblem  of  royalty.  The  total  overthrow  in  Lord  Corn 
wall  is's  defeat,  of  his  long  projected  and  self-promised  subjugation 
of  North  America  to  an  uncontrolled  power,  must  have  this  effect. 
Man's  designs  are  often  overruled  by  a  more  powerful  authority. 
Took  tea  at  Mr.  John  Savage's,  according  to  promise,  with  a  room 
full  of  company. 


328  JOURNAL    AND     LETTERS.  [1781. 


.  30.  Took  my  watch  to  London  to  be  reformed,  it  proving 
a  useless  companion  in  its  present  state  of  false  intelligence,  bor 
rowed  one  in  the  interim. 

Dec.  5.  Mr.  Thomas  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  A.  Savage  took  tea 
•with  me. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Brompton,  Dec.  15,  1781. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

I  delayed  answering  your  last  favor  till  I  could  send  a  satisfac 
tory  one  to  your  question  about  your  friend,Thomas  Barnard,  Esq.,  of 
Lincoln's  Inn  ;  and  now  I  have  the  pleasure  to  acquaint  you  that 
he  and  I  were  this  day  as  usual  fellow-worshippers  at  Essex  House 
chapel,  which  seems  to  be  his  Sunday's  resort,  both  for  worship  and 
the  communion,  at  which  he  attends  with  becoming  devotion. 
Our  preacher  to-day  was  Mr.  Estin,  of  Lewinsmead,  Bristol,  for 
Mr.  Lindsay  himself  always  performs  the  liturgy  service, 

Since  Lord  Cornwallis's  surrender,  government,  I  am  told,  has 
laid  aside  all  other  thoughts  than  to  maintain,  if  practicable,  Caro 
lina,  Nova  Scotia,  New-York  city,  Charleston,  and  Georgia  5  per 
haps  since  the  majority  for  carrying  on  the  war  in  America,  when 
the  House  of  Commons  consisted  of  more  than  four  hundred,  fell  to 
forty-one  only  ;  a  proof,  notwithstanding  the  irresistible  influence 
of  court,  of  the  real  sentiments  of  the  landed  interest.  For  the 
aforesaid  purpose  immense  quantities  of  army  and  navy  ammunitions, 
de  guerre  and  de  bouche,  will  be  sent  over,  and  primarily  furnish 
America,  and  ultimately,  I  fear,  France,  with  the  ability  to  dis 
possess  Great  Britain  of  every  foot  of  ground  on  the  continent  of 
North  America  ;  and  it  will  be  well  if  not  the  islands  too.  But 
whoever  is  master  of  the  ocean  will  doubtless  command  these  ; 
whether  Great  Britain  is  or  is  not  at  present,  is  a  fact  easily  to  be 
judged  of;  whether  she  will  be  in  time  to  come,  must  be  read  in 
a  following  page  in  the  book  of  fate.  'Tis,  I  confess,  foolish  to  an 
ticipate  evils  ;  a  wise  man  said, 

<c  If  evils  come  not,  then  our  fears  are  vain  ; 
And  if  they  do,  fear  but  augments  the  pain." 

No  mind  is  so  fortified  as  not  to  feel  concern  for  what  may 


1781.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  329 

happen,  especially  when  smarting  under  the  rod,  nor  insensible 
when  oppressed. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Dec.  20.  Went  to  London  in  order  to  pass  a  day  at  Capt. 
Hay's  ;  he  was  departed  to  Portsmouth  to  meet  his  ship  there. 

Dec.  23.  Sunday  at  Essex  House  chapel.  Mr.  Lindsay  preached 
an  admirable  dissuasive  against  placing  terms  of  acceptance  with 
God  on  narrow  party  principles,  as  if  he  was  engaged  to  support 
Calvin,  Armiriius,  or  the  Council  of  Nice,  or  any  body  of  patriarchs, 
archbishops  or  bishops  whatever. 

Dec.  31.  Three  days  since  was  my  birth-day,  when  I  entered 
my  sixty-sixth  year.  What  reason  have  I  to  lament  the  loss  of 
time  and  waste  of  powers  that  our  indulgent  Creator  has  bestowed 
upon  us  for  wise  and  useful  purposes. 

Henry  Laurens,  Esq.,  late  president  of  Congress,  was  admitted 
to  bail  and  discharged  from  the  Tower. 


42 


330  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Brompton,  London,  January  1,  1782.  Dined  at  Mr.  John  Sa 
vage's,  in  the  Grove. 

Jan.  3.  Called  on  Dr.  Jeffries,  a  countryman  of  mine,  at  No. 
28  South  Moulton-street.  In  my  absence,  Mr.  Timmins  and  James 
Russell  called. 

TO  SAMUEL  SEWALL,  ESQ.,  TAUNTON. 

London,  Jan.  8,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Mr.  Rowe  names  the  21st  for  delivering  out  his  orders  to  the 
bank  for  payment  of  our  quarterly  stipends.  I  shall  be  on  the 
watch,  and  avail  myself  of  the  earliest  day  for  myself  and  you. 

I  presume  you  have  heard  of  the  death  of  poor  Abel  Willard, 
your  late  friend,  whose  continuance  on  the  London  stage  was  of  a 
few  days  only  after  his  return  from  Oxford.  He  is  now  gone 
to  that  retreat  from  suffering,  where  the  wicked  cease  from  trou 
bling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest.  I  am  told  the  surviving  mate  is 
a  mourner  in  earnest. 

I  wish  you  the  compliments  of  the  season,  and  am  glad  to  hear 
from  you,  that  you  are  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  cheerful  mirth  and 
conviviality ;  may  they  continue  up  to  your  desires,  which  I  pre 
sume  are  ever  confined  within  the  bounds  of  temperance ;  and 
hope  a  full  restoration  of  your  health  and  spirits.  Happy  those 
who  can  amuse  or  gladden  their  hearts  with  anticipation  of  future 
good.  The  present  prospect  is  too  gloomy  for  my  weak  mind  to 
discover  one  gleam  of  hope. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

Jan.  10.  Receired  a  letter  to  convey  to  the  widow  Poyntony 
at  Salem,  from  her  late  husband's  kinsman  of  same  name,  in  Orange- 
court,  Leicester-fiek'ls,  with  a  complaisant  invitation  to  dine  with 
him  next  Sunday. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  331 

TO  SAMUEL  SEWALL,  ESQ.,    TAUNTON. 

Yeoman' 's  Row,  Jan.  24,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  inclose  you  a  bank  post-bill  for  <£24  6s. 8d., 
wishing  it  safe  to  your  hands. 

I  am  not  happy  enough  to  present  you  with  any  good  news  of 
our  own  selves  or  our  public  concerns,  unless  you  will  say  none  is 
such,  at  a  time  when  bad  only  may  reasonably  be  expected  from 
almost  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  And  though  I  would  not  raise 
imaginary  ideal  terrors  in  the  breast  of  any  of  my  acquaintance,  I 
cannot  forbear  to  mention  a  piece  of  intelligence  received  from  an 
acquaintance  here,  communicated  to  him  by  a  lady,  who,  he  says, 
has  intimate  cabinet-council  connections.  He  says,  she  has  in  times 
past  more  than  once  or  twice  informed  him  of  secret  deliberations 
and  resolves  done  and  acted  there,  that  at  the  time  surprised  him, 
and  were  afterwards  verified  by  the  events.  She  told  this  in  con 
fidence,  with  great  apparent  concern  of  mind,  etc.,  seeming  firm  in 
belief,  and  fear  of  its  being  put  into  execution  within  a  few  months. 
Hear  then  your  doom : — it  has  been  a  subject  of  deliberation,  and 
is  thought  to  be  determined  in  the  cabinet,  to  withdraw  from  the 
American  refugees  in  England  all  government  support.  So  shame 
less  and  unexampled  an  act  of  barbarity,  you  probably  may  think, 
cannot  be  perpetrated  in  a  civilized  state  ;  perhaps  not.  Politics 
and  morals,  however,  are  founded  on  very  different  grounds,  and 
conducted  by  principles  of  a  quite  contrary  complexion  from  each 
other.  What  is  heterodoxy,  base  and  unjustifiable  in  the  one  sys 
tem,  may  be  in  the  other  sound  state  orthodoxy,  and  free  from 
reproach ;  viewed  in  the  single  light  of  supposed  good  of  the  state. 
One  cannot,  therefore,  tell  what  the  administrators  of  public  affairs 
may  think  it  politically  prudent  to  do  in  the  paroxysms  of  public 
distress ;  and  their  ways  and  means  are  unhappily  in  one  at  this 
very  time.  I  would  fain  disbelieve,  but  confess  my  fears  step  in 
between  apprehensions  on  one  side,  and  doubt  on  the  other,  and 
cast  up  the  balance  on  the  side  of  the  latter.  This  day,  I  questioned 
Mr.  Rowe  at  the  Treasury  -on  the  subject ;  and  he,  with  the  apathy 

of  a  stoic,  and  the  composed  countenance  of  a ,  coldly 

replied,  he  had  not  heard  of  it.     No,  answered  I,  and  I  trust  you 


332  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

never  will.  The  nonchalance  of  his  behavior  rather  increased  my 
alarm  than  silenced  my  doubts.  If  you  think  it  worth  while  to 
make  inquiries  about  it,  perhaps  some  friend  who  has  connections 
with  the  court  may  convince  you  of  its  truth  or  falsity, — or,  per 
haps,  you  will  prefer  to  postpone  a  knowledge  of  evils  till  they 
arrive,  thinking  that  sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  JUDGE  SEWALL,  BRISTOL. 

JVb.  1,  Yeoman's  Row,  Brompton,  Feb.  4,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

After  so  long  a  silence,  I  fancy  you  will  wonder  at  this  time 
to  hear  from  me,  and  I  confess  I  should  hardly  have  thought  of 
troubling  you,  but  for  a  selfish  purpose.  I  am  directed  by  a  son 
of  Esculapius  to  heighten  my  diet  by  a  moderate  use  of  the  most 
nutritive  food,  best  dry  wines,  and  spirits  diluted  in  water,  etc.,  ex 
cluding  sweets,  sours,  and  high  seasonings, — in  order  to  animate, 
warm,  and  invigorate,  as  far  as  possible,  an  old,  cold  and  enfeebled 
body.  Please  inform  me  the  proportions  of  spirits,  milk,  etc.,  of 
the  mixture  that  was  recommended  to  you  by  a  London  physician 
of  note,  to  be  taken  by  one  in  a  decaying  weak  habit. 

I  durst  not  touch  on  the  state  of  the  nation,  nor  of  our  parti 
cular  concerns  as  refugees,  both  of  which,  I  presume,  you  suspect 
to  be  in  a  very  unpromising  condition. 

I  believe  you  will  wonder  how  I  came  to  the  place  from  whence 
I  date;  my  situation  is,  luckily,  for  the  time  I  proposed  to  abide 
here,  happy,  from  a  coincidence  of  circumstances  which  could  not 
be  foreseen.  Your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Feb.  7.  At  the  queen's  house  with  Mr.  Hopkins  to  see  the 
plate,  etc.  ;  the  first  object  that  struck  me  was  three  large  rnaund 
baskets  covered  of  table  plate,  as  dishes,  tureens,  butter  and  sauce 
boats,  all  with  covers,  raised,  embossed  and  engraved.  The  king's 
service  was  silver  gilt ;  the  prince's,  silver.  We  also  were  con 
ducted  to  the  kitchen,  where  were  eighteen  male  cooks  busily 
employed  in  their  several  various  lines;  the  men  in  white  jackets 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  333 

and  caps,  and  the  women  in  white  aprons  and  caps.  By  a  late 
royal  order,  no  one  is  to  appear  in  the  kitchen  with  their  natural 
hair.  When  the  king  arrives  from  court  at  St.  James's,  (where 
he  attends  five  days  in  the  week,  Tuesdays  and  Saturdays  being 
the  only  ones  he  has  in  the  week  for  his  own  private  amusements, 
concerns,  etc.,)  dinner  is  called,  on  which  a  bustle  ensues ;  the 
assistants  of  the  silver  scullery  take  such  pieces  as  called  for  out  of 
baskets,  place  them  on  a  warm  stove,  whence  they  are  taken  by 
the  cook  and  filled  and  taken  to  dining-room  door,  and  delivered 
to  the  person  appointed  to  place  them  on  the  royal  table.  Com 
mon  dinner,  five  dishes  of  meat,  four  of  garden  stuffs,  and  one 
remove  daily,  and  no  more.  He  is  exceedingly  temperate,  drinks 
generally  water,  and  rarely  partakes  of  more  than  one  or  two 
dishes.  His  supper  is  water-gruel,  taken  in  a  vessel  peculiarly  appro 
priated  to  his  use,  called  the  king's  cup,  and  is  of  silver  gilt, — shown 
me  by  the  yeoman.  The  king's  company  at  table  is  the  queen,  prince 
of  Wales,  (unless  on  his  public  dinner  days,)  the  princess  royal, 
princesses  Sophia  and  Elizabeth  :  the  rest  of  the  children  at  an 
other  table  in  another  apartment.  The  prince's  dinner  served  up 
by  his  proper  officers  in  the  same  manner  as  the  king's.  The 
queen,  unless  indisposed,  always  attends  court  and  levee  days;  as 
soon  as  it  is  over  she  returns ;  immediately  dinner  is  served  up 
without  waiting  for  her  husband ;  a  proof  of  good  husbandship. 
It  is  said  every  king  has  a  service  of  new  table  plate,  the  old  being 
disposed  of;  the  silver  is  kept  in  bags  and  put  into  presses.  I  took 
leave,  and  by  advice  returned  by  Buckingham  Gate,  Pimlico, 
Grosvenor-place,  in  preference  to  Constitution  Hill,  which  some 
times  is  hazardous,  and  at  eight  o'clock  got  safe  home. 

FROM  CHIEF  JUSTICE  OLIVER. 

Birmingham,  Feb.  9,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favor  of  the  4th  inst.  informs  me  of  two  canisters  of  snuff 
which  you  have  for  me.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  care 
and  trouble  for  an  irritating  powder  for  an  American  refugee,  and 
doubt  not  that  it  will  be  of  a  more  agreeable  nature  than  the  so 
many  irritables  we  have  all  turned  up  our  noses  at  for  five  or  six 
years  past.  If  you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  send  it  to  the  Birmingham 


334  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

coach  at  the  Green  Man  and  Still,  in  Oxford-street,  directed  to  me, 
I  shall  be  glad ;  and  it  you  will  call  upon  Mr.  Thos.  Hutchinson,* 
he  will  pay  you  for  me. 

I  am  sincerely  glad  of  the  safe  arrival  of  our  friend  Governor 
Browne  ;f  I  wish  him  an  easy  cushion  for  his  chair,  but  I  fear  a 
barking  crew  of  rebels  will  disrest  him.  Your  friend  Mr.  Lakin 
inquires  after  you  when  I  meet  him. 

Health  and  ease  attend  you ;  so  wisheth 

Your^humble  servant, 

PETER  OLIVER. 
SAMUEL  CURWEN,  ESQ. 

Feb.  15.     Mr.  Thomas  Hutchinson  called  and  passed  an  hour 

with  me. 

Feb.  17.     The  secret  service  list  for  the  year  1781  is  positively 

charged  with  the  following  sums  : — 

American  departments  exclusive  of  Refugees  .£83,000  sterl'g. 

Admiralty 46,000 

War  Office 10,500 

Secretary  of  State 53,600 

Treasury  72,000 

£265,100 

The  request  long  urged  by  General  Burgoyne,  of  having  a 
court  martial  appointed  to  decide  upon  his  conduct  in  the  affair  of 
Saratoga,  has  at  last  been  complied  with,  and  orders  transmitted 
from  the  war-office  to  the  commander-in-chief  in  America  for 
sending  over  such  officers  as  mentioned  by  the  General  as  neces 
sary  for  his  defence,  by  the  first  conveyance,  to  attend  the  trial. 
If  no  unexpected  impediment  takes  place,  it  will  be  held  in  the 
spring.  The  administration  seems  loth  to  have  an  inquiry  made ; 
perhaps  it  will  produce  an  exposure  of  orders,  etc.,  judged  not 
prudent  at  present  for  the  public  eye. 

Feb.  20.  Bishop  Lowth  of  London,  and  Bishop  Newton  of 
Bristol,  both  died  on  the  14th  inst. 

Feb.  26.  Walked  to  Chelsea  with  Mr.  Dalglish,  who  returned 
and  dined  with  me.  Miss  Savage  and  father  joined  us  at  tea. 

*  Governor  Hutchinson's  son. 

t  William  Browne,  of  Salem,  afterwards  governor  of  Bermudas. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  335 

March  1.  The  Welsh  procession  from  St.  Andrew's  church, 
Holborn,  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  tavern  in  the  Strand  to  dine  ; 
the  members,  and  all  of  that  nation  adorned  with  leeks  and  orna 
ments  resembling  them,  stuck  on  the  button-band  of  their  hats,  as 
is  usual  on  this  day,  called  in  the  Roman  calendar  St.  David's 
Day ;  still  continued  in  his  honor,  who  is  the  titular  saint  of  the 
nation.  This  society  is  established  for  the  support  of  the  poor,  for 
which  they  have  a  fund,  schools,  etc. 

March  2.  Wrote  several  letters  to  be  sent  home  by  a  Mr. 
Sigourney. 

TO  DR.  E.  A.  HOLYOKE. 

London,  March  2,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Since  my  tedious  answer  to  your  only  favor,  I  have  frequently 
thought  of  a  mistaken  notion  asserted  therein,  which  I  naturally 
fell  into  for  want  of  making  proper  inquiry  and  receiving  informa 
tion,  arising  from  the  vulgar  prevailing  notion  in  the  province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  that  our  soil  was  peculiarly  unfavorable  to  the 
raising  of  wheat,  which  made  me  look  upon  the  success  of  the  Si 
berian  as  almost  miraculous.  A  little  wiiile  after  I  had  sent  off  my 
answer,  I  happened  to  fall  into  a  conversation  with  a  curious  sen 
sible  gentleman,  who  from  repeated  trials  had  proved  the  falsehood 
of  our  vulgar  notions,  and  had  raised  frequent  large  harvests  of 
excellent  wheat  from  his  own  grounds,  even  from  soils  naturally 
weak  and  indifferent.  I  am  therefore  convinced  he  justly  derived 
our  people's  pertinacious  adherence  to  their  own  bad  and  wrong 
tillage  from  a  mere  obstinate  and  lazy  attachment  to  old  customs, 
handed  down  from  father  to  son,  and  preferred  in  spite  of  yearly 

disappointments  from  generation  to  generation. 

******* 

Your  real  friend  and  well  wisher, 

S.  CURWEN. 

March  2.  Lord  George  Germaine,  who  was  admitted  into  the 
administration  on  the  idea  of  subjugating  N.  America  to  the  un 
conditional  authority  of  Parliament,  having  since  Lord  Cornwallis's 
surrender  of  himself  and  the  whole  army  to  the  victorious  arms  of 


336  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

France  and  Congress,  abdicated  his  post  of  secretary  in  the  Ameri 
can  department,  left  the  House  of  Commons,  and  gone  up  to  the 
House  of  Lords  by  a  patent  of  nobility.     General  Carleton,  who  is 
confessedly  of  superior  ability  in  point  of  military  knowledge  and 
execution,  is  now  appointed  general-in-chief  in  America,  when  all 
manoeuvres  in  his  line  are  intentionally  given  up,  and  no  opportunity 
is  afforded  for  exertion,  except  in  the  way  the  former  generals,  his 
predecessors,  have  figured  in  amassing  personal  wealth  out  of  this 
already  cruelly  oppressed  people.     Lord  George  Germaine's  ad 
mission  to  the  upper  house  was  accompanied  by  many  severe  re 
flections  and  motions  to  address  the  king  to  prevent  it ;  many  lords 
thinking  it  disgraceful  to  suffer  tamely  one  to  be  added  to  their 
number  who  stood  disgraced  by  the  sentence  of  a  court  martial, 
and  was  forbidden  the  society  of  any  of  the  officers  of  the  army. 
The  Marquis  of  Caermarthen  made  the  motion,  and  Lord  Shelburne 
warmly   seconded   it.     Many   speeches   on    the   occasion.     Last 
Wednesday,  General  Conway  concluded    a  long  speech  in  the 
Commons  with  the  following  motion,  viz. :  Resolved,  "  That  it  is 
the  opinion  of  this  house,  that  a  further  continuance  of  an  offensive 
war  in  America  for  the  purpose  of  subduing  by  force  the  revolted 
colonies  is  totally  impracticable,  inasmuch  as  it  weakens  that  force 
which  W7e  ought  to  employ  against  our  European  enemies,  and  is 
contrary  to  his  majesty's  declaration,,  who,  in  his  gracious  speech 
from  the  throne,  expresses  a  wish  to  restore  peace  and  tranquillity." 
This  motion  the  ministerial  party  endeavored  to  dispose  of  by  the 
attorney  general's  motion  for  an  adjournment,  when  at  half  past 
one  o'clock    the  house  divided,   and   to  the  discomfiture  of  his 
majesty's  ministers  they  were  in  a  minority  by  nineteen.     General 
Conway  then  moved  that  an  address  be  presented  to  his  majesty 
on  the  above  resolution.     This  was  seconded  by  Lord  Althorpe, 
and  carried  without  a  division ;  the  minister  not  daring  to  risk  a 
second  defeat.    In  consequence  of  this  important  decision,  the  nation 
is  at  last  within  the  prospect  of  enjoying  the  blessings  of  a  peace 
with  America. 

Lord  Stormont  wrote  to  the  lord  mayor  and  aldermen  to  pre 
vent,  if  possible,  illuminations  in  the  city ;  none  were  exhibited 
but  in  the  gallery  on  the  top  of  the  monument,  which  blazed  with 
more  than  sixscore  lamps.  As  soon  as  the  joyful  tidings  of  the 


1782.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS,  337 

minister's  defeat  and  the  nation's  deliverance  was  announced  in  the 
lobby  and  avenues  of  the  house  to  the  numerous  multitudes  that 
waited  in  anxiety  and  perturbation  to  know  the  fate  of  their 
country,  the  most  vehement  and  heartfelt  shouts  of  acclamation 
pierced  the  ear,  if  it  did  not  reach  the  heart  of  the  minister,  now 
tottering  on  the  treasury  bench.  Those  noble  and  distinguished 
characters,  who  by  their  steady  perseverance  and  zeal  had  over 
come  the  ruinous  system  of  ministers,  were  hailed  by  the  grave 
multitude  as  the  saviours  of  their  country.  Expresses  were  des 
patched  by  the  ambassadors  to  their  several  courts,  announcing 
this  important  decision,  which  naturally  changes  the  system  by 
which  the  peace  of  Europe  is  disturbed.  The  king's  answer  to 
the  address  of  the  Commons  in  consequence  of  General  Conway's 
motion  for  putting  an  end  to  the  present  war  with  America,  con 
tained  the  following :  "  There  are  no  objects  more  near  to  my 
heart  than  the  ease,  happiness  and  welfare  of  rny  people  ;  and  you 
may  be  assured,  that  in  pursuance  of  your  advice,  I  shall  take  such 
measures  as  shall  appear  to  me  most  conducive  to  the  restoration 
of  harmony  between  Great  Britain  and  the  revolted  colonies,  so 
essential  to  the  prosperity  of  both,  and  that  my  efforts  shall  be  di 
rected  in  the  most  effectual  manner  against  our  European  enemies, 
until  such  peace  can  be  obtained  as  shall  consist  with  the  interest 
and  permanent  welfare  of  my  kingdom." 

March  4.  Advice  of  the  surrender  of  Minorca  to  the  combined 
armies  of  France  and  Spain,  by  Gen.  Murray ;  of  the  capture  of 
St.  Kitt's  by  the  French,  to  which  fate  Nevis  and  Montserrat  will 
probably  soon  submit.  Essequibo  and  Demarara,  taken  by  Rodney 
and  Vaughan,  are  retaken  by  a  French  squadron,  and  it  will  be 
great  good  fortune  if  one  single  West  India  island  be  left  to  this 
wretched,  devoted  country. 

March  7.  The  large  banking  house  of  Brown  and  Collinson, 
Lombard-street,  was  declared  bankrupt  to-day,  and  carries  with  it 
a  train  of  ruin.  They  were  of  the  society  of  Quakers,  and  therefore 
more  unexpected,  as  people  of  that  persuasion  are  generally  pru 
dent,  and  not  engaged  in  expensive  luxurious  modes  of  life. 

March  10.  A  gentleman  lately  from  Brest  acquaints  Lord 
Sandwich  that  a  piece  of  bad  news  had  arrived  there  from  the 
West  Indies,  which  renders  somewhat  probable  the  report  of  a 

43 


338  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

master  just  arrived,  that  St.  Kitt's  was  retaken  by  Admiral  Sir 
Samuel  Hood,  who  hearing  of  de  Grasse's  departure,  immediately 
sailed  and  obliged  the  French  troops  to  the  number  of  six  thousand 
to  surrender.  They  had  not  forced  the  English  lines  at  Brimstone 
Hill,  and  were  left  exposed  without  a  single  ship  to  aid  them.  De 
Grasse,  thinking  himself  sure  of  the  conquest,  after  safely  landing 
these,  had  left  them  to  their  chance,  and  went  in  quest  of  other  ad 
ventures  ;  probably  to  assist  in  retaking  St.  Lucia.  May  it  prove 
true. 

March  12.  I  find  myself  for  some  time  laboring  under  distress 
ing  symptoms,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  my  nature  too  feeble 
to  withstand,  and  which  must  soon  give  way  to  and  yield  in  the 
struggle.  May  I  retire  where  undue  passion,  ungoverned  appetite, 
and  selfish  regards  shall  have  no  rule  or  sway,  and  all  shall  be 
peace,  harmony,  mutual  regards,  and  no  intemperate  gratifications. 

March  18.  This  day  advice  is  come  from  Ireland  of  the  most 
serious  nature ;  a  large  quantity  of  artillery  is  arrived  there  from 
France,  under  the  pretext  of  securing  the  island  from  foreign  inva 
sion  ;  but  from  the  known  general  prevailing  wish  among  the  peo 
ple,  there  is  some  reason  to  fear  a  general  revolt  from  this  govern 
ment,  and  an  independency  thereon.  Should  it  take  place,  wo 
betide  this  falling  nation. 

March  20.  On  the  Earl  of  Surry's  rising  in  the  House  of 
Commons  to  make  his  motion  about  removing  ministers,  Lord  North 
arose,  and  after  some  altercation  about  the  propriety  of  his  standing 
up  at  the  same  time  with  the  member,  on  his  explaining  his  motives 
he  was  allowed  to  proceed,  when  he  announced  his  (and  the  rest 
of  the  king's  servants')  quitting  the  administration,  and  moved  for 
an  adjournment  till  next  Monday,  by  which  time  the  business  now 
in  hand  would  be  finished,  and  a  new  arrangement  of  ministers 
settled,  not  one  of  the  old  ones  to  remain  in  office.  A  greediness 
to  share  in  the  public  plunder  is,  I  fear,  the  primum  mobile,  nor 
shall  we,  it  is  greatly  to  be  apprehended,  gain  much  advantage  by 
a  new  set,  unless  they  shall  totally  change  the  system,  form  alli 
ances,  (for  not  one  at  present  have  we,)  if  that  shall  be  practicable, 
put  an  end  to  the  American  dispute,  and  conciliate  some  of  our 
victorious  foes. 

On  this  occasion  Lord  Surrey  happened  to  espy  Arnold,  the 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  339 

American  seceding  general,  in  the  house,  sent  him  a  message  to 
depart,  threatening,  in  case  of  refusal,  to  move  for  breaking  up  the 
gallery;  to  which  the  general  answered,  that  he  was  introduced 
there  by  a  member;  to  which  Lord  Surrey  replied,  he  might  under 
that  condition  stay,  if  he  would  promise  never  to  enter  it  again,  with 
which  General  Arnold  complied.  This  is  the  second  instance  of 
puplic  disrespect  he  has  met  with  :  the  king  having  been  forced  to 
engage  his  royal  word  not  to  employ  or  pension  him  ;  a  just  reward 
for  treachery,  which  is  ever  odious. 

March  26.  The  town  full  of  talk  about  the  new  ministry  ;  I 
doubt  their  success  in  settling  with  America  :  that  poor  continent 
is  too  much  in  the  power  of  France  to  effect  a  reconciliation  on 
any  terms  but  such  as  the  haughty  court  of  Versailles  shall  approve 
of;  and  they,  I  dare  say,  will  be  humiliating  enough  to  this  in 
fatuated  country  :  which  term,  all  the  world  will  soon  see,  may 
with  equal  propriety  be  applied  to  English  America. 

March  27.  Dined  at  Mrs.  Snelson's  on  Ludgate-hill ;  passed 
an  hour  at  the  coffee-house  before  dinner,  reading  the  newspapers 
containing  the  following  list  of  the  expected  new  ministry,  which 
is  a  total  change,  there  being,  (as  expressed,)  "  not  a  hoof  left  of 
the  old"  Lord  North  and  his  compeers  are  obliged,  from  a  minority 
in  some  questions,  and  a  slender  decreasing  majority  in  others,  to 
surrender  their  posts  to  the  opposition;  who  come  into  play  on 
principles  professedly  opposite  to  the  late  schemes  of  the  cabinet 
respecting  America,  and  the  war  consequent  thereon  : — 

Marquis  of  Rockingham,  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury. 

Lord  John  Cavendish,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

Lord  Camden,  President  of  the  Council. 

Duke  of  Grafton,  Lord  Privy  Seal. 

Duke  of  Richmond,  Master  of  Ordnance. 

Secretary  for  Southern  Department,  Lord  Shelburne. 
Do.  Northern         do.         Charles  J.  Fox. 

Mr.  Dunning,  Attorney-General,  with  promise  of  being  enno 
bled,  seals  first  vacancy. 

Mr.  Lee,  Solicitor-General. 

Admiral  Keppell,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 

General  Conway,  Commander  in  Chief  of  Forces. 

Lord  Howe,  do.  of  Fleet. 


340  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

Duke  of  Rutland,  Master  of  the  Horse. 

Mr.  Barre,  or  Mr.  Thomas  Townsend,  Secretary  at  War. 

Mr.  Burke,  Secretary  to  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  also 
Receiver  and  Paymaster-General. 

Remaining  Lords  of  the  Treasury,  Lord  John  Cavendish,  Lord 
Althorp,  John  Spencer,  James  Greville,  and  Frederick  Montague, 
Esqrs. 

In  order  to  keep  in  the  present  administration,  the  cabinet  had 
come  to  a  full  determination  to  propose  a  dissolution  of  Parliament 
to  the  council ;  which  being  proposed,  was  at  length  agreed  to  as 
the  only  expedient  to  save  their  honor  and  support  the  present 
measures ;  the  usual  ministerial  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons 
being  every  day  visibly  lessened.  But  the  chancellor,  Lord  Thur- 
low,  with  a  fortitude  and  magnanimity  peculiar  to  himself,  and 
worthy  of  the  highest  praise,  withdrew  and  refused  to  affix  the 
seals,  whereby  this  junto  scheme  is  totally  overset ;  nor  dare  the 
king  nor  his  ministers  discover  any  resentment  at  their  disappoint 
ment.  It  is  thought  very  serious  consequences  would  have  fol 
lowed,  and  public  royal  disapprobation.  Thank  God  that  there 
yet  remain  any  instances  of  virtue  and  regard  to  public  safety 
amidst  our  deplorable  situation,  mercenary  views,  incredible  dissi 
pation,  (wherein  all  ranks  are  involved,)  profligacy  and  effeminacy 
of  manners,  and  the  open  unrestrained  practices  of  genteel  vice 
and  disregard  of  religion. 

March  28.  Visited  Mr.  Timmins  for  two  hours ;  he  returned 
with  me.  That  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  not  content  to  take  all  upon 
trust,  the  following  story  perhaps  will  illustrate  : — Returning  lately 
from  an  airing  on  horseback,  attended  by  a  companion  and  one 
servant,  on  his  arrival  in  St.  James's  Park,  he  alighted,  and  giving 
his  horse  to  the  servant,  proceeded  on  foot  with  his  friend  to  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons,  where  he  abode  for  some  hours. 
Whilst  there,  having  entered  with  his  hat  on,  he  was  ordered  to 
take  it  off,  with  which  he  complied,  keeping  his  handkerchief  up 
to  his  face  to  prevent  the  discovery  of  his  person.  Having  heard 
many  things  before  unknown  to  him,  he  departed,  surprised  and 
informed.  This  excursion  continued  so  long  as  to  delay  the  royal 
dinner  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  occasioned  an  anxiety  in  his 
royal  parents'  breasts ;  his  absence  at  meals  being  unusual.  On 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  341 

his  entering,  being  questioned,  he  frankly  owned  where  he  had 
been,  not  a  little  to  the  disapprobation  of  his  father ;  who  has  since 
complied  with  his  request  to  allow  him  a  summer's  progress  through 
the  kingdom,  which  he  has  often  solicited,  in  case  he  would  pro 
mise  to  make  no  more  such  elopements.  It  is  a  maxim  of  state  for 
the  present  incumbent  of  the  throne  to  keep  the  successor  ignorant 
as  possible,  and  totally  unconcerned  and  unused  to  court  measures 
and  all  public  concerns,  and  this  king  seems  inclined  to  put  the 
maxim  in  practice  to  its  extent. 

March  29.  Good  Friday ;  attended  worship  at  Whitehall 
chapel,  Lord  North  present.  Being  disappointed  in  Westminster 
Abbey  and  St.  Margaret's  church,  (at  the  former  by  the  lowness 
of  the  reader's  voice,  at  the  latter  by  the  service  not  having  begun,) 
proceeding  cityward,  just  as  I  came  to  the  gate  leading  from  Par 
liament-street  to  Scotland-yard,  or  Whitehall,  who  should  cross 
me  but  a  large  clumsy  gentleman  with  a  blue  ribbon  across  his 
breast,  who,  on  inquiry,  I  found  was  Lord  North.  Following  him 
into  Whitehall  chapel,  I  remained  during  the  service.  He  is  rather 
above  the  common  height,  and  bulk  greatly  exceeding ;  large  legs, 
walks  heavily,  manner  clumsy;  very  large  featured,  thick  lips, 
wide  mouth,  high  forehead,  large  nose,  eyes  not  lively ;  head  well 
covered  with  hair,  which  he  wears  high  before.  The  preacher 
was  Dr.  Noel,  dean  of  Salisbury,  the  only  Episcopal  preacher  that 
I  ever  saw  or  heard  repeat  the  Lord's  prayer  by  heart ;  not  one  of 
them  daring  to  trust  to  their  memory  except  this  man.  His  manner 
and  delivery  very  agreeable,  and  his  discourse  excellent  and  useful. 
Dined  at  Salisbury-court ;  met  Mr.  Dalglish,  who  accompanied  me 
home  to  tea  and  passed  evening. 

March  30.  Mr.  Dalglish  called,  and  we  went  together  to  the 
Bishop  of  London's  terrace-walk  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  at 
Fulham,  arid  returned  by  Little  Chelsea. 

March  31.  Attended  public  worship  at  St.  Paul's;  Mr.  Hys- 
lop  preached.  Drank  tea  with  Mr.  Peters.  He  informed  me 
administration  would  not  consent  to  the  independence  of  America ; 
the  ministerial  plan  is  to  govern  America  by  a  lord-lieutenant,  and 
create  nobility  ;  and  if  she  will  not  agree  to  Great  Britain's  pro 
posal,  to  make  a  partition  treaty  of  the  colonies  with  France,  to 
whom  the  northern  colonies  and  Canada  would  be  ceded,  the 


342  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

southern  colonies  remaining  to  Great  Britain, — a  fine  bargain, 
truly. 

April  4.  Mr.  Dalglish  called  at  ten  o'clock,  and  we  departed 
on  foot  to  Hampton  Court,  passing  through  Chelsea,  part  of  Ham 
mersmith  to  Fulham,  crossed  the  river  just  above  Putney  bridge, 
passed  through  that  town,  and  to  Bornes  Mortlake  to  back  of  Kew ; 
from  thence  to  Richmond,  crossing  the  river  at  the  bridge,  pro 
ceeded  through  Twickenham  to  Hampton,  passing  Bushy  Park,  a 
tedious  level  of  more  than  a  mile  in  length,  arrived  at  King's  Arms 
inn  at  two  o'clock,  where  we  dined.  At  four  o'clock  proceeded 
to  the  palace ;  entered  with  a  large  company  of  females,  who 
arrived  there  at  the  same  time  with  us,  joining  a  master  with  a 
number  of  young  persons,  his  pupils,  and  a  governess  with  a  score 
of  young  misses,  rendering  our  company  through  the  royal  apart 
ments  very  numerous.  The  rooms  almost  all  hung  in  rich  tapestry 
of  Brussels  manufacture,  wrought  in  gold  and  silver,  which,  being 
put  up  in  King  William's  reign,  time  has  somewhat  tarnished. 
Pity  that  the  room  built  for  the  reception  of  the  Cartoons,  and 
which  they  long  adorned,  is  now  by  this  king's  whim  robbed  of 
them  to  cover  the  staircase  walls  of  Buckingham  House.  Return 
ing  we  arrived  at  "  King's  Arms"  inn,  on  the  borders  of  Kew 
Green,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  bridge  leading  to  Brentford  at  eight 
o'clock,  where  we  supped  and  lodged. 

April  5.  We  walked  on  Bankside  terrace  as  far  as  Sion  House, 
meaning  opposite  thereto.  Returning  we  passed  the  building,  and 
taking  the  foot-path  by  the  river,  kept  it  through  Chiswick  and 
Hammersmith  as  far  as  it  was  continued,  affording  most  agreeable 
views ;  then  turning,  crossed  the  country  to  Fulham  and  by  little 
Chelsea,  arriving  at  Don  Saltero's  cafe  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
where  we  dined,  and  at  four  o'clock  departed,  arriving  at  my  lodg 
ings  at  five  o'clock,  having  in  two  days  walked  thirty-two  miles, 
(yesterday  twenty-one,  and  eleven  to-day,)  and  am  at  this  present 
writing  no  more  fatigued  nor  less  able  to  take  another  walk  to 
morrow  of  the  same  length. 

April  6.    Capt.  Coombs  and  Mr.  Dalglish  drank  tea  with  me. 

April  7,  Sunday.  Attended  worship  and  communion  at  Es 
sex  House  chapel ;  Mr.  Lindsay  read  the  service  and  officiated  at 
the  communion.  Dr.  Priestley  preached  an  excellent  discourse. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS,  343 

TO  SAMUEL  SEWALL,  ESQ.,  SIDMOUTH. 

Brompton,  April  8,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  fancy  you  need  not  give  yourself  any  concern  about  future 
supplies,  which  my  last  letter  intimated.  Government,  it  is  proba 
ble,  will  not  be  guilty  of  such  injustice  as  to  withhold  what  the 
public  faith  has  engaged.  Some  ill-founded  grants  will  be  stopped, 
and  here  the  reform  in  this  will  end. 

Truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

April  8.  Removed  my  lodgings  from  Yeoman's  Row  to  Mrs. 
Smithson's,  near  the  chapel,  Brompton. 

April  15.  News  from  East  Indies  that  our  Admiral  Hughes 
had  taken  three  places  from  the  Dutch  on  the  coast  of  Malabar. 
Further  accounts  of  the  designed  reform  by  new  administration  in 
national  expenditures  and  abolition  of  all  needless  sinecure  estab 
lishments — wish  it  may  prove  true  and  of  lasting  advantage. 

April  18.  The  delegates  of  the  associated  counties  held  their 
first  meeting  in  the  new  common  council  chamber  at  Guildhall. 
During  the  late  administration  they  were  refused  it  with  some 
marks  of  contemptuous  disapprobation.  New  men  and  new  meas 
ures  have  effected  a  wonderful  change  in  the  common  council  of 
London. 

April  19.  This  day  seven  years  the  fatal  fight  at  Lexington, 
Mass.,  happened ;  productive  of  such  baneful  consequences  to 
Great  Britain  and  America ;  what  will  be  its  issue,  is  known  only 
to  Him  who  overrules  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  man,  to  serve  his 
own  wise  purposes  ;  may  all  of  them  who  are  so  deeply  interested 
therein  be  prepared  for  it. 

April  20.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  cabinet,  which  consists  of  ten 
members,  have  been  thrice  equally  divided ;  the  lord  president  in 
that  case  makes  report  to  the  king,  and  he  agrees  with  one  opin 
ion,  which  is  then  entered  in  the  council  books,  with  this  addition, 
"  by  command  of  his  majesty."  The  king  refused  to  give  his  opin 
ion,  saying,  "  Let  it  be  done  as  they  determine  among  themselves." 
"  But,  sire,  they  are  divided."  "  So  let  it  remain  then!" — A  strong 


344  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1782. 

ground  of  suspicion  that  neither  measures  nor  men  are  to  his 
liking. 

"  The  king  in  a  pet,  his  affairs  all  deranged, 
Has  at  last  his  unmerciful  ministers  changed  j 
Brave  news,  quoth  the  Congress  ;   but  better  would  be, 
Had  the  king  when  he  changed  them  omitted  the  C." 

JJpril  24.  Admiral  Barrington  has  sent  into  Portsmouth  four 
French  transports  from  Brest  and  a  large  ship  armed  en  flute,  and 
was  left  chasing  four  men-of-war  near  the  harbor. 

April  25.  Admiral  Barrington  arrived  in  harbor  with  ten 
ships  of  the  line  and  nine  transports — French  prizes,  intended  for 
the  East  Indies,  with  another  French  ship  of  sixty-four  guns  armed 
en  flute. 

May  2.  To  Westminster  Hall ;  sat  an  hour  in  chancery  court, 
heard  lord  chancellor  try  three  causes ;  method  summary. 

May  9.  To  Chelsea — took  tea  with  Mrs.  Timmins — Robert 
Hallowell  first  acquainted  me  with  Clark  Pickman's  death. 

TO  RICHARD  WARD,  ESQ.,  SALEM. 

London,  May  11,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Should  your  great  and  good  ally  obtain  the  two  only  very  pro 
bable  objects  of  her  American  alliance,  the  impoverishment  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  consequent  seizure  of  the  late  English  colo 
nies,  which  she  seems  at  present  in  a  fair  way  for,  no  man  on  this 
side  the  Atlantic  in  his  wits  would,  I  think,  whatever  regard  he 
may  feel  for  his  native  country,  willingly  forego  a  bare  subsistence 
here  for  French  domination  and  wooden  shoes  there.  I  would 
just  suggest  to  you,  should  America  in  this  hour  refuse  the  offers 
Great  Britain  may  make  of  a  separate  peace  ;  or  France  refuse  to 
suffer  her,  (for  we  well  know  here  the  power  she  has  acquired  over 
her,)  and  no  partition  treaty  take  place,  (being  in  the  present  situ 
ation  the  best  to  be  expected,)  depend  upon  it,  you  fathers  of  the 
present  age  will  have  it  in  their  power  ere  many  revolutions  of  the 
sun,  to  tell  their  children  the  inestimable  civil,  religious  and  politi 
cal  privileges  you  of  this  generation  have  wantoned  away,  and 
with  sad  regret  recount  the  happy  condition  of  former  days  •  nor 
will  the  comparison  with  those  you  will  then  mournfully  experi- 


1782.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  345 

ence  between  English  protection  and  French  oppression,  fail  to 
enhance  your  misery.  You  will  then  find  the  little  finger  of  French 
power  heavier  than  the  loin  of  the  English  government,  with  all  its 
apprehended  train  of  evils.  As  a  proof  of  my  needless  fears  or 
right  judgment,  convey  my  kind  love  to  your  wife  and  children. 

Your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  HON.  JONATHAN  SEW  ALL,  BRISTOL. 

London,  May  12,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Confined  as  I  have  been,  for  near  two  years,  to  a  very  narrow 
circle  without  variety,  like  monotony  in  music,  every  thing  about 
me  is  become  insipid.  I  am  therefore  going  into  a  scene  of  new 
objects,  and  hey  for  Flanders  for  a  month.  Naturalists  say  change 
of  air,  even  from  bad  to  worse,  is  good  for  the  health  of  the  body ; 
that  of  the  Netherlands  must,  I  think,  be  certainly  salubrious  and 
nutritive.  How  happy  should  I  be  to  have  so  agreeable  a  com 
panion  as  Judge  Sewall.  Who  knows  what  effect  a  month's  resi 
dence  may  produce  ?  For  my  part  I  fancy  my  thin  lathy  body  in 
that  air,  and  by  the  use  of  rich  generous  Burgundy,  etc.,  procurable 
there  at  a  cheap  rate,  may  increase  to  a  manly  bulk.  My  heart 
would  dilate  with  pride  and  pleasure  to  receive  a  note  of  compli 
ance  with  my  request — nor  should  I  be  displeased  if  your  kinsman 
Samuel  Sewall  should  join  and  make  a  trio.  Please  remember  me 
to  your  family  and  those  of  our  countrymen  with  you  with  whom 
I  am  acquainted. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

May  12.  It  is  suggested  that  the  new  administration  mean  to 
increase  the  power  of  the  crown  by  their  projected  new  militia. 
As  they  have,  or  one  of  them  at  least,  deceived  the  people  by  fre 
quently  declaring  he  had  a  peace  in  his  pocket,  when  the  event 
showed  the  falsehood  of  those  declarations;  should  their  other  pre 
tensions  prove  as  futile  and  groundless,  they  will  deserve  the  exe 
cration  of  this  and  future  generations,  and  will,  I  hope,  meet  a 
deserved  fate.  At  best,  however,  I  expect  not  much  good,  and 

44 


346  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1782. 

think  ours  an  ill-compacted  junto  of  very  short  duration :  their 
principles  are  not  uniform  nor  concurrent. 

May  17.  At  New  England  Coffee-house  heard  the  glorious 
news  of  Admiral  Rodney's  defeat  and  capture  of  the  French  Ad 
miral  de  Grasse,  with  five  capital  ships,  and  one  sunk.  With  Mr. 
Dalglish  to  Chelsea  College  Gardens — thence  to  Mr.  Timmins's  to 
tea. 

May  18.  Trinquemale,  the  strongest  garrison  belonging  to 
the  Dutch,  and  called  the  Gibraltar  of  the  East  Indies,  being  the 
principal  fortress  on  the  island  of  Ceylon,  has  been  captured  by 
Admiral  Sir  Edward  Hughes,  who  was  going  against  another  fort, 
which  he  hoped  to  reduce. 

May  23.  Dined  at  New  England  Coffee-house  with  New 
England  company. 

May  24.  With  Mr.  Dalglish  went  to  Maddocks  the  florist's 
exhibition  of  tulips ;  he  pointed  out  the  bell  king  and  bell  queen 
stocks,  a  beautiful  and  singular  plant,  which  he  is  unable  to  in 
crease,  having  derived  but  one  offset  in  twenty-two  years ;  had 
been  offered  twenty-two  guineas  for  it ;  the  tints  are  exquisitely  fine. 

This  day  arrived  further  advice  of  Sir  Samuel  Hood's  capture 
of  two  more  French  men-of-war,  viz.,  L'Esprit  of  eighty  guns, 
and  Philo  of  seventy-four,  and  two  frigates,  the  Amiable,  thirty- 
two  and  Ceres  eighteen,  in  the  West  Indies. 

May  25.  Loitering  through  St.  James's  Park,  and  seeing 
many  people  collected  around  the  rails  of  Buckingham  House, 
stopped  to  see  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  soon  appeared  in  a  phae 
ton  with  Col.  Tarleton,  who,  I  was  told,  is  frequently  to  be  seen 
with  him. 

June  3.  Crossed  Westminster  bridge  to  visit  Mrs.  Hay  and 
Mr.  Dalglish. 

June  9.  It  is  reported  that  the  Russian  ambassador  announced 
that  the  czarina  has  declared,  in  case  the  Dutch  refuse  the  offer 
Great  Britain  has  made,  which  she  pronounces  liberal,  that  she 
will  assist  the  English  with  her  fleet — eighteen  for  channel  service 
and  twenty  against  the  Dutch. 

June  25.  To  Queen  dock,  Wapping,  to  see  Capt.  Coombs  on 
board  a  ship  he  is  appointed  to  keep  guard  in  ;  stepped  in  at  long 
room,  custom-house. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  347 

June  28.  To  Mark-lane  corn  market,  to  inquire  for  Indian 
corn,  and  was  told  there  had  been  none  for  two  years.  Afterwards 
met  Mr.  Flucker  in  the  Park,  and  conversed  with  him  half  an  hour. 
Met  T.  Goldthwait,  and  rode  with  him  to  Charing  Cross ;  invited 
me  to  dine  at  his  house,  Walthamstow. 

June  29.  Took  a  long  walk  with  Mr.  Hutchinson.  Met  a 
man  with  a  mug  in  his  hand,  which  he  said  was  once  the  famous 
Shakspeare's,  and  that  he  inherited  it  from  his  wife's  father,  who  was 
heir  to  all  Shakspeare's  effects,  being  a  descendant  from  him  in  the 
female  line;  and  that  Garrick  had  offered  ten  guineas  for  it 
when  he  celebrated  the  jubilee  at  Stratford  upon  Avon.  The  Pub 
lic  Advertiser  to-day  says,  "  Administration  have  very  laudably  de 
termined  on  withdrawing  their  pensions  from  the  American  refu 
gees  ;  so  that  next  year,"  says  the  writer,  "  we  may  hope  for 
some  more  haymakers  than  we  are  able  to  get  for  the  present  har 
vest."  An  ill-natured  and  I  hope  untrue  declaration. 

July  1.  Visited  Parson  Peters ;  meeting  there  Parson  Wiswall, 
accompanied  him  to  Battersea  bridge,  having  stepped  into  Don 
Saltero's  cafe,  Chelsea,  and  drank  tea. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

Near  Brompton  Chapel,  July  2,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

You  desire  me  to  be  communicative  about  myself — a  poor  sub 
ject,  truly,  to  write  about.  I  am, however,  to  thank  you  for  your  soli 
citude,  and  at  present,  as  you  see  by  the  date,  am  very  near  the 
house  of  God,  but  never  enter  therein,  keeping  steady  to  our  con 
venticle  in  Essex-street,  Strand,  which  is  my  regular  and  constant 
Sunday's  resort ;  retaining  still  my  old  New  England  prejudice  of 
observing  the  fourth  commandment.  My  health  is  better  than 
usual,  having  escaped  the  epidemic  hitherto. 

Three  days  since  I  received  a  letter  from  T.  B.,  wherein  he 
acquaints  me  that  our  friends  are  well.  I  presume  you  have  heard 
of  the  death  of  Judge  Lynde  and  Clark  Pickman. 

Your  townsman  Allen  is  dead,  leaving  Sir  William  Pepperell 
and  George  Erving  his  executors,  directing  that  his  remains  shall 
be  removed  after  the  troubles  to  the  vault  under  King's  Chapel, 
Boston. 


348  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

We  have  an  American  Thursday  dinner  club  at  the  New  Eng 
land  Coffee-house. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  3.  Meeting  Parson  Wiswall,  on  whose  recommendation 
I  went  to  Battersea  to  engage  lodgings  for  a  fortnight ;  from  thence 
to  his  church  and  attended  prayers,  where  were  present  nine  in  the 
house  exclusive  of  nine  parish  boys.  From  thence  we  set  off  by 
agreement  on  a  walk  to  Kingston  on  the  Thames,  nine  miles,  arri 
ving  at  the  "  Sun,"  where  took  a  cold  repast,  a  pottle  of  straw 
berries  ;  arrived  at  lodgings  before  nine  o'clock.  New  arrange 
ment  of  ministry ;  Lord  Shelburne  first  commissioner  of  the 
treasury,  Earl  Temple  secretary  in  lieu  of  Chs.  Jas.  Fox,  and  Mr. 
Pitt,  a  favorite  patriotic  speaker,  in  lieu  of  Lord  Shelburne  ;  Burke 
out,  and  Barre  also,  with  a  pension  of  .£3,200  per  annum ;  Duke 
of  Manchester  lord  chamberlain. 

July  4.  Went  to  London  to  the  Thursday  dinner  at  New 
England  Coffee-house. 

July  5.  Went  to  Westminster,  and  in  the  lobby  of  the  House 
of  Commons  heard  that  Charles  J.  Fox,  Lord  John  Cavendish, 
Edmund  Burke,  and  General  Conway,  have  been  dismissed  from 
the  king's  service ;  the  former  on  account  of  his  speech  last 
Monday,  declaring  the  independency  of  America  to  be  agreed  on? 
which  Lord  Shelburne  denied,  having  steadily  refused  his  consent 
thereto.  Lord  Buckingham's  death,  which  happened  last  Monday, 
has  very  probably  hastened  the  present  event.  Returned  as  far  as 
Mr.  Elisha  Hutchinson's,  Brompton,  and  drank  tea  with  the 
family. 

July  11.  Dined  as  usual  at  New  England  fish-club  dinner. 
The  king  prorogued  Parliament,  and  made  a  speech  from  the 
throne  in  his  robes  and  crown. 

July  16.  At  Parson  Peters's  met  young  Parson  Clarke,  and 
observing  him  speak  articulately,  and  with  some  degree  of  clear 
ness,  expressed  my  surprise ;  and  inquiring  the  cause,  he  told  me 
his  speech  came  to  him  on  a  sudden,  and  on  the  very  day  seven 
years  that  he  was  first  seized  with  the  incapability  of  uttering 
sounds. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  349 

July  21.  To  Kensington  Gardens ;  there  met  Thomas  Danforth 
and  Samuel  Porter ;  the  latter  related  an  account  of  his  voyage  to 
Oporto. 

July  22.  Went  to  Clapham  Common  to  dine  with  Mr.  Gilbert 
Harrison  ;  Mr.  Toulmin  and  his  lady's  mother  there.  Returned 
through  the  fields  ;  the  hedges  perfumed  by  sweet  smelling  blossoms. 

July  25.  Had  a  view  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  sailing 
match  on  the  river,  from  Mr.  Hay's  summer-house  on  the  bank. 
River  covered  with  barges  and  boats,  oars,  scullers  and  sails;  the 
duke  in  his  own  barge,  ensign  red,  having  an  anchor  and  a  length 
of  cable  in  gold-leaf  depicted  thereon.  A  great  concourse  attended  ; 
he  was  in  going  saluted  by  a  discharge  of  small  cannon  ;  the 
boats  departed  from  Blackfriars  bridge,  length  of  course  to  Putney 
bridge;  premium  a  silver  cup  of  £50  value. 

July  27.  Dined  at  New  England  Coffee-house  on  fish  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Flucker,  Francis  Waldo,  Mr.  Hutchinson,  Thomas 
Goldthwait,  etc. 

July  29.  Through  Hackney  to  Walthamstow,  where  dined 
with  Mr.  Goldthwait. 

August  3.  In  passing  Bird-cage  Walk  had  a  slight  glimpse 
of  Count  de  Grasse  at  Sir  Peter  Parker's  window ;  he  is  a  stout, 
very  tall  man. 

August  4.  At  Battersea  church  ;  the  vicar,  Parson  Gardner, 
preached. 

August  21.  Wrote  Mr.  Elisha  Hutchinson  at  Birmingham. 
Afterwards  went  to  Capt.  Coombs'  at  a  Mr.  Birch's,  beyond  Folly 
Bridge,  Dockhead  ;  on  the  door  of  a  meeting-house  I  passed  ob 
served  the  following  words  written  in  chalk,  "  We  have  erred  and 
strayed"  Unless  the  supporters  of  the  doctrine  of  necessity,  or 
even  expediency,  of  a  universal  conformity  to  a  state  establishment 
of  the  form  of  religious  worship,  can  lay  its  foundation  in  reason  or 
a  command  in  holy  writ,  I  defy  the  ablest  disputant  to  prove  me 
or  any  dissenter  in  England  or  elsewhere  guilty  of  a  fault  in  ad 
hering  to  a  different  mode  of  external  worship,  or  schism  in  a  bad 
sense.  On  the  contrary,  all  political  establishments  being  tinctured 
with  the  reigning  principles  of  the  times  when  they  were  founded, 
and  men's  notions  and  opinions  changing  with  fashions,  usages, 
customs  and  language,  a  continued  sameness  is  utterly  impossible  j 


350  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

the  endeavor  therefore  to  compel  men  is  offering  a  violence  to  the 
understanding,  and  denotes  the  character  called  in  Scripture  the 
man  of  sin,  wherever  found. 

August  28.  Over  Westminster  Bridge  to  Mrs.  Chapman's, 
Kensington,  to  visit  Mrs,  Hay.  Mr.  Danforth  called.  Drank  tea 
at  Parson  Peters's. 

August  31.  This  day  the  papers  announce  Prince  William 
Henry's*  death,  at  New-York,  being  the  second  breach  in  the 
royal  family,  Prince  Alfred,  the  youngest,  having  died  last  week. 
There  remain  a  dozen,  a  heavy  burden  yet  on  the  national  finances. 
Called  on  Mr.  Danforth,  and  there  met  Mr.  Brewer,  late  governor 
of  Bermuda ;  Mr.  Danforth  is  assisting  him  in  preparing  his  papers 
in  answer  to  sixteen  allegations  or  acts  of  complaint  lodged  in  the 
king's  council  against  him. 

Sept.  1.  Attended  worship  at  St.  Martin's;  Mr.  Harrison, 
preached  to  a  full  assembly.  After  describing  Christian  poverty  of 
spirit,  and  assigning  some  reasons  why  Christ  began  his  first  public 
discourse  by  recommending  this  virtue,  he  mentioned  two  sorts  of 
men  who  were  wholly  destitute  of  it,  viz.,  those  Calvinistic  profes 
sors  who  pretended  to  a  certainty  of  their  salvation,  and  those  who 
claimed  it  as  a  merit  due  to  their  good  works ;  both  of  whom  he 
pronounced  deficient  in  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Christ's 
religion. 

Sept.  3.  Capts.  Peters  and  Walker  called  and  took  tea  with 
me  ;  the  former  a  brother  of  Parson  Samuel  Peters,  the  latter  from 
Worcester. 

Sept.  5.  In  walking  through  Parliament-street  and  seeing 
crowds  running  through  Scotland-yard,  joined  them,  and  on  in 
quiry  found  they  were  accompanying  Parson  Lloyd,  a  clergyman, 
returned  from  Bow-street  Justices'  examination  to  Westminster 
Bridewell,  from  whence  he  was  taken  this  morning  on  a  complaint 
of  highway  robbery  ;  and  it  is  said  he  is  identified.  He  seemed 
hardened,  and  of  a  rough,  bold  cast,  and  begged  with  a  careless 
boldness  money  of  every  well  dressed  person  that  passed  as  he  was 
being  conducted  to  prison  in  irons ;  his  right  hand  being  also 
chained  to  an  officer's,  or  one  of  the  justice's  men. 

Sept.  6.     Called  at  Mr.  WiswalPs  to  accompany  him  to  Holy- 

*  Premature — he  became  king  at  the  decease  of  his  brother  George  IV. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  351 

well-lane,  as  far  as  the  gateway  of  King  John's  palace,  which  he 
never  had  seen  before. 

Sept.  7.  Over  Westminster  Bridge  to  turnpike  head  of  Kent- 
street,  designing  to  go  to  Edmund's  great  gardens  at  Deptford ; 
but  the  time  being  far  spent,  and  they  a  mile  and  a  half  distant, 
I  proceeded  no  further;  and  turning  my  steps  homeward,  passed 
through  Kent-street,  a  long  narrow  one,  of  low  ordinary  houses, 
and  inhabitants  corresponding ;  scarcely  one  reputable  person  ap 
pearing  in  view. 

Sept.  9.  To  Mr.  Edmund's  house,  the  great  Deptford  gardener, 
to  see  his  asparagus  lot  of  forty  acres. 

Sept.  11.  Went  with  Mr.  Peters  to  Mr.  Hunter's  seat  at  Hamp- 
stead,  west  end — arrived  at  one  o'clock;  kindly  welcomed,  dined, 
drank  tea,  and  departed  at  six  o'clock.  Passing  through  the  fields, 
arrived  at  the  Edgeware  road,  where  one  of  the  queen's  coaches 
returning  to  town  received  us  in. 

Sept.  13.  Called  on  Parson  Peters,  from  whom  learned  more 
of  the  convulsed  state  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  than  I  had 
heard  before.  The  people  there  are  more  impatient  than  elsewhere 
under  public  expenses,  and  retain  more  of  the  old  republican  leaven ; 
but  I  know  not  whether  they  have  not  more  political  discernment 
and  attend  more  closely  to  the  steps  of  their  rulers ;  and  in  truth 
the  Bible,  the  law-book,  and  the  gun,  are  more  used  there  than  in 
any  part  of  the  English  dominions ;  therefore  more  than  anywhere 
else  on  the  face  of  the  globe — no  other  country  having  had  so 
great  a  share  of  political  and  civil  liberty.  By  the  packet  from 
New-York,  Sir  William  Pepperell  here  has  received  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  William  Walter  there,  informing  him  that  the  counties  of 
Worcester  and  Hampshire,  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  have  declined 
sending  members  to  the  provincial  assembly,  and  also  the  payment 
of  the  tax  of  eight  shillings  on  each  head  through  the  United 
States,  laid  by  Congress,  amounting  to  four  millions  of  hard  dol 
lars,  and  that  it  had  only  raised  twenty  thousand.  That  the  said 
counties  had  sent  to  know  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton  on  what  terms  Great 
Britain  would  receive  them.  Also  that  courts  of  justice  and  all 
law  proceedings  were  stopped  in  Berkshire  as  well  as  in  Worcester 
and  Hampshire,  a  general  uneasiness  having  taken  place  by  the 
Congress's  requisition  to  pay  the  tax  in  hard  money. 


352  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

It  is  also  reported  that  Dr.  Saunders  had  received  private  letters, 
acquainting  him  that  four  of  the  colonies  had  protested  against  con 
tinuing  any  longer  their  French  alliance. 

Sept.  14.  Walked  to  Smithfield  bars;  saw  for  the  first  time 
since  its  demolition  old  Hicks's  Hall,  a  few  remains  and  rubbish 
only,  leaving  road  to  St.  John's-street  very  commodious  and  wide. 

Lord  Howe  sailed  with  thirty-four  ships  to  the  relief  of  Gibral 
tar. 

Sept.  26.  It  is  announced  that  a  commission  was  last  Tuesday 
perfected  under  the  great  seal,  empowering  General  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  and  Admiral  Digby  at  New-York  to  acknowledge 
American  independence ;  and  to  treat  with  Congress,  or  either  of 
the  thirteen  states,  or  any  body  of  men.  A  fine  bargain,  truly,  has 
this  once  powerful  wealthy  state  offered  to  their  lately  despised 
colonies.  But  human  policy  sometimes  overshoots  its  mark; 
human  wisdom  is  narrow,  and  human  designs  are  controlled  by  a 
wiser  director  than  govern  court-cabinet  councils,  and  who  acts  on 
broader  plans. 

Sept.  30.  Went  to  the  city  to  deliver  a  letter  for  conveyance 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Peters ;  from  Blackfriars  Bridge  had  a  sight  of  city 
barges  with  flags  displayed,  rowing  down  stream ;  having  the 
sheriffs,  lord  mayor  and  aldermen  returning  from  Westminster  Hall, 
the  former  being  this  day  sworn  into  office  by  one  of  the  barons  of 
the  exchequer. 

Oct.  4.  Advices  received  at  Lord  Shelburne's  that  the  siege 
of  Gibraltar  is  raised. 

Oct.  7.  It  is  reported  to-day,  that  the  Spanish  floating  gun- 
batteries  had  been  defeated  before  Gibraltar ;  eleven  burnt,  sunk, 
and  destroyed,  having  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  brass  cannon 
of  twenty-four  pound  shot,  besides  one  hundred  and  fifty  iron,  same 
calibre ;  between  fifteen  hundred  and  two  thousand  men  ;  it  hav 
ing  been  a  general  assault,  begun  on  St.  Louis's  day,  September 
9th,  and  completed  13th  ; — three  hundred  poor  souls  General  Elliot 
picked  up  in  the  water  after  the  batteries  were  sunk,  and  sent  them 
in  the  same  day  to  their  friends  and  country  :  this  by  a  letter  from 
the  Hague. 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  353 

TO  MR.  ANDREW  DALGLISH,   GLASGOW. 

London,  Oct.  7,  1782. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

In  Hampshire  government  the  opposition  has  been  so  general 
and  violent  as  to  require  a  body  of  French  soldiers  to  be  sent 
against  them,  who,  on  attempting  to  reduce  the  insurgents,  were 
attacked,  and  some  lives  on  both  sides  lost,  without  accomplishing 
the  purpose  of  their  errand.*  Yet  for  all  this  there  is  not  the  least 
disposition  in  general,  as  a  state,  to  accept  of  the  terms  Great 
Britain  has  offered  without  the  concurrence  of  their  great  and  good 
ally.  On  General  Carleton's  proclamation,  the  Congress  and  con 
tinental  governments  declared  it  insidious,  and  despised  the  offer  of 
independence,  which  they  contemptuously  said  did  not  depend  on 
the  consent  of  Great  Britain. 

The  letter  you  inquire  about  was  written  by  Parson  Walter, 
whom  you  know  very  well,  and  is  of  the  same  complexion  with  all 
advices  received  from  that  quarter,  which,  ever  since  the  com 
mencement  of  this  quarrel,  have  been  amusing  the  public  with  as 
surances  of  a  speedy  reduction  of  the  rebellion,  as  they  term  it ; 
florid  descriptions  of  the  desperate  situation  of  the  rebel  army  ;  the 
sufferings  of  the  country,  a  growing  dislike  of  Congressional 
authority,  mutual  heart-burnings  and  quarrels  amongst  its  members, 
and  an  increasing  affection  towards  the  mother  country ;  all  which 
from  the  first  I  disbelieved,  and  it  now  proves  in  event,  after  a 
course  of  six  years'  delusion,  tohave  been  the  phantoms  of  a  heated 
party  imagination. 

I  have  seen  at  large  a  relation  of  the  distresses  and  inability  of 
the  New-York  government  under  the  republican  rulers,  in  a  repre 
sentation  made  by  the  House  of  Assembly  to  their  government ,  the 
picture  perhaps  may  serve  for  the  rest  of  the  colonies.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  some  refugees  that  New- York  is  by  this  time  evacuated, 
and  if  one  may  judge  from  analogy,  I  think  it  is  not  improbable ; 
for  there  never  was  a  time  when  government  had  so  fair  a  prospect 
of  overturning  that  mighty  colossus  of  independency  as  now : — 
their  distresses  never  greater,  their  resources  exhausted,  loans  not 
to  be  obtained,  French  troops  few  in  number,  and  their  own  army 

*  Wholly  incorrect. 

45 


354  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

dwindled  to  a  pitiful  size ;  but  the  die  is  cast,  and  as  the  same  ill 
star  which  has  had  the  ascendant  ever  since  this  baneful  quarrel 
commenced  still  continues  to  shed  its  malignant  influence,  govern 
ment  has  formally  offered  America  unconditional  independency 
under  the  royal  sign  manual.  Gen.  Carleton  writes  that  the  colo 
nies  are  so  determined  against  all  governmental  connections  with 
Great  Britain,  that  if  they  cannot  maintain  their  independency,  they 
will  declare  themselves  colonies  of  France,  and  if  they  must  be 
slaves  they  will  take  a  new  yoke,  however  galling,  rather  than  put 
on  the  old  one ;  this,  by  the  way,  is  carrying  political  resentment 
to  the  highest  pitch  of  folly  and  frenzy. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CUR  WEN. 

Oct.  9.  This  day,  for  sundry  reasons,  ought  to  be  inserted  in 
the  very  short  list  of  dies  albi,  (white  days,)  which  I  note,  that  on 
inspection  I  may  refresh  my  memory  with  a  pleasing  recollection 
amidst  the  gloom,  that  from  a  constrained  absence  from  my  native 
country  but  too  generally  overspreads  my  grief-laden  mind. 

Oct.  11.  Attended  Mayne  the  banker's  sale  of  goods,  and  also 
Beranger's,  late  gentleman  of  the  horse  to  his  majesty  ;  bought 
nothing  ;  things  well  sold.  Mr.  William  Clarke  drank  tea  with  me. 

Oct.  15.  I  am  told  by  Mr.  Rose  no  orders  are  to  be  delivered 
till  the  commissioners,  consisting  of  two  members  of  parliament, 
Mr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Wilmot,  have  examined  the  refugee  claimers 
and  their  claims ;  that  it  may  require  more  than  a  month's  time. 
Proceeded  to  Oxford-street  to  pay  Mr.  Danforth  a  visit ;  whilst 
there  Mr.  Hale  entered.  Met  in  streets  many  returning  from  an 
execution  of  ten  felons  at  Tyburn. 

Oct.  16.  In  conversation  with  a  gentleman  at  an  ordinary,  I 
observed  in  him  the  prevailing  characteristic  infirmity  of  this 
nation,  rendering  them  both  envied  and  hated  by  Europe,  viz.,  an 
overweening  conceit  of  English  bravery,  accompanied  with  a  con 
tempt  for  other  nations ;  which  in  this  day  of  their  distress  they 
now  feel  the  sad  effects  of,  in  the  cool  indifference  the  other  states 
view  her  embarrassments,  though  without  producing  a  reformation 
as  far  as  I  can  perceive.  It  is  generally  believed  the  French  and 
Spaniards  will  retire  from  before  Gibraltar  on  the  approach  of  the 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  355 

fleet  under  Lord  Howe ;  in  case  of  reverse,  I  know  not  what  rage, 
disappointment,  and  despair  might  be  the  natural  effects ;  the 
political  evils  are  too  obvious  not  to  be  seen  and  dreaded. 

Oct.  17.  It  is  reported  the  Bavarian  resident  minister  has 
received  the  following  important  advices,  viz.,  that  Lord  Howe  has 
had  an  engagement  with  the  combined  fleets ;  taken  twelve  and  de 
stroyed  seven,  with  the  loss  of  four  or  five  of  his  own  ships  ;  all 
taken  are  Spanish,  not  a  French  one  among  them  ;  they  retreated 
into  Cadiz  harbor,  and  he  pursued  his  course  to  Gibraltar,  which 
is  thereby  relieved,  being  the  great  object  of  his  voyage. 

A  few  hours  after,  the  above  was  followed  by  another,  viz., — 
that  Lord  Howe  in  defence  of  Gibraltar  had  surrendered  to  the 
successful  arms  of  the  combined  fleet. 

By  Captain  Afflick  from  New-York,  is  arrived  a  confirmation 
of  the  loss  of  the  French  seventy-four,  the  Magnifique,  with  the 
Triumphante  of  eighty  guns  from  the  West  Indies  under  Vaudreuil, 
bound  to  Boston ;  the  one  foundered,  the  other  ran  ashore  at  Point 
Alderton  ;  also  the  loss  of  the  British  ship  Lion  of  sixty-four  guns 
on  her  passage  to  New-York.  'Tis  said  also  transports  are  gone 
from  New-York  to  take  off  the  troops,  etc.,  from  Charleston,  and 
that  they  are  also  abandoning  New-York ;  government  being  in 
that  case  determined  to  take  away  every  difficulty  respecting  Ame 
rican  independence,  to  bring  on  a  treaty  for  a  general  peace. 

Oct.  18.  Passing  through  Tooley-street  in  the  Borough,  ob 
served  the  name  of  Southernwood  on  a  door ;  having  knowledge  of 
one  of  that  name  in  my  first  voyage  to  London  in  1738,  I  am 
determined  to  call  and  make  inquiry  about  the  family  of  Cottenbilt, 
with  whom  I  then  lived. 

Oct.  19.  Went  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Danforth ;  acquainted  him 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hay's  compliments  and  invitation  to  dinner  to 
morrow  with  me  at  their  house  No.  4  Golden-square ;  staid  till 
eight. 

Oct.  23.  To  Treasury ;  gave  a  card  with  my  name  and  ad 
dress  to  a  Mr.  Allen,  clerk  to  Mr.  Townshend,  one  of  the  secretaries 
of  state,  agreeably  to  an  order,  to  be  questioned  as  to  my  claims  as 
a  refugee  for  support ;  the  value  of  my  estate  and  effects  left 
behind,  losses  sustained,  etc.  etc. 

Oct.  25.    Went  at  eleven  o'clock,  in  compliance  with  a  sum- 


356  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

mons  from  Messrs.  Wilmot  and  Cooke,  (members  of  Parliament, 
chosen  by  the  lords  of  the  treasury  to  examine  the  claims  of  the 
American  sufferers,  state  their  claims  and  produce  vouchers,)  to 
attend  them  at  the  American  secretary's  office,  Treasury-house, 
"Whitehall.  Was  examined  and  dismissed,  after  being  directed  to 
bring  a  certificate  of  my  being  a  person  of  property,  and  of  steady 
uniform  attachment  to  principles  of  loyalty,  which  I  propose  to 
bring  from  the  late  provincial  secretary,  Mr.  Flucker. 

Oct.  26.  Drank  tea  at  Samuel  H.  Sparhawk's,  Bedford-court, 
Red-Lion  square,  and  remained  till  nine  o'clock. 

Oct.  28.  Passed  afternoon  and  evening  at  Mr.  Danforth's, 
who  assisted  me  in  drawing  up  my  certificate  to  present  to  the 
commissioners.  In  the  evening  Dr.  Jeffries,  a  brother  exile,  called 
in  and  announced  the  arrival  of  an  express  with  advice  that  Lord 
Howe  is  relieving  Gibraltar ;  the  French  and  Spanish  looking 
on  him  from  Algeziras  bay  without  even  attempting  to  loose  ground 
and  meet  him ;  an  apparent  proof  that  with  fifty-one  capital  ships 
they  thought  themselves  unequal  to  his  fleet  of  thirty -four.  It  is 
likewise  added,  that  the  Spaniards  by  the  late  high  wind  have  lost 
three  ships. 

Oct.  29.  Went  to  Mr.  Flucker's  with  the  following  certificate 
for  his  signature,  viz.  : — "  General  Gage  and  Governor  Oliver 
being  absent  from  London,  we,  the  subscribers,  do  certify  that 
Samuel  Curwen,  Esq.,  late  of  Salem,  in  the  province  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay,  is  descended  from  an  ancient  and  respectable  family 
in  said  province.  That  he  has  been  a  deputy  Judge  of  Admiralty 
and  Provincial  Impost  Officer,  and  for  near  thirty  years  in  the  com 
mission  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of  Essex ;  had  always  main 
tained  a  most  respectable  character,  and  was  early  distinguished 
for  his  attachment  to  the  established  constitution  of  the  province, 
and  its  dependence  on  and  subordination  to  the  authority  of  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  and  was  esteemed  a  gentleman  of  consider 
able  property  and  fortune." 

Called  in  the  afternoon  and  received  my  certificate,  signed, 
"  Thomas  Flucker,  secretary  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay." 
While  there,  joined  by  Col.  Morrow,  just  arrived  from  Cowbridge, 
in  Wales,  on  a  like  errand. 

Oct.  3 1.     Called  at  Mr.  Timmins's ;  he  was  engaged  in  pack- 


1782.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  357 

ing  up  his  goods  in  order  to  remove  to  Wolverhampton,  where  he 
is  about  commencing  business. 

Nov.  1.     To  Pimlico,  where  took  tea  with  Parson  Peters. 

Nov.  2.  Reported  that  Lord  Howe  has  had  an  engagement 
with  the  combined  fleet,  and  has  defeated  and  dispersed  it. 

Nov.  8.  Saw  in  my  landlord's  parlor  the  poorest  nobleman  I 
believe  in  the  three  kingdoms,  a  Lord  Kirkcudbright,  brought  up  a 
glover,  and  who  for  years  worked  at  this  trade  in  Glasgow ;  he  is 
now  a  captain  in  the  king's  guards.  Passing  a  coach,  I  observed 
its  number  1000,  the  highest  number  licensed. 

Nov.  11.  Received  my  order  for  quarter's  pension  of  .£25; 
the  first  given  to  any  refugee  on  the  new  establishment  of  no  de 
duction  to  the  officer  of  commissions. 

Nov.  25.  Cold  air ;  St.  James's  canal  frozen  hard  enough  to 
bear  skating  on. 

Nov.  26.  The  meeting  of  Parliament  summoned  for  to-day  is 
postponed  to  Thursday  5th  proximo,  in  expectation  that  the  com 
missioners  at  Paris  may  by  that  time  come  to  their  ultimate  deter 
mination  about  peace  or  war ;  or  on  the  preliminaries  whereon  a 
peace  is  to  be  founded.  France  and  Holland  fancy  they  see  too 
well  the  probable  consequences  of  prolonging  the  war,  to  accept  the 
terms  proposed ;  presuming  in  the  issue  Great  Britain  must  accede 
to  what  they  shall  demand,  and  who  does  not  ?  None,  I  dare  say, 
but  those  who  will  not,  and  only  such  are  blind. 

Nov.  27.  Newspapers  filled  with  contradictory  reports  about 
peace ;  all  dread  a  continuance  of  this  nefarious,  ill-omened,  ill- 
judged,  distracted  quarrel. 

Nov.  30.  Dined  and  passed  the  day  at  Capt.  Hay's.  Mrs.  Chap 
man,  with  whom  these  my  friends  board  at  Kensington  Common, 
near  Vauxhall  Gardens,  says  that  the  famous  Sterne,  author  of 
"  Tristram  Shandy"  "  Sentimental  Journey,"  etc.,  was  totally  void 
of  the  fine  feelings  of  humanity,  which  he  so  beautifully  paints,  and 
are  characteristics  of  his  writings,  which  in  respect  thereto  show  him 
to  be  an  original  genius ;  and  but  ill  discharged  the  various  relative 
duties  of  life ;  one  instance  only  excepted,  which  was  an  immoderate 
fondness  of  an  only  daughter.  As  a  proof  among  others,  he  suffered 
an  aged  mother,  which  but  for  the  proof  of  it  is  hardly  to  be  credited, 
to  die  in  a  jail  for  want  of  money  to  discharge  a  debt  of  twenty 


358  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1782. 

pounds.  The  public  ought  to  know  the  character  of  a  writer  who 
so  ill  in  practice  exemplified  what  his  pen  so  justly  and  beautifully 
describes.  This  was  told  her  by  a  very  intimate  acquaintance  of 
Sterne,  who  was  personally  informed  of  his  whole  history. 

Dec.  3.  Yesterday  Vergennes'  secretary  brought  notice  that 
the  commissioners  appointed  by  Great  Britain  and  the  thirteen 
United  States,  had  signed  a  provisional  treaty,  whereupon  stocks 
rose  five  per  cent.  The  following  letter  was  published  : 

Whitehall,  Dec.  3,  1782. 
THE  RIGHT  HONORABLE  THE  LORD  MAYOR  : 

In  consequence  of  my  letter  to  your  lordship  of  the  22d  ult,  I 
take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  acquainting  you  that  a  messenger 
is  this  moment  arrived  from  Paris  with  an  account  of  provisional 
articles  having  been  signed  on  the  30th  ult.,  by  his  majesty's  com 
missioners  and  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
to  be  inserted  in  and  constitute  a  treaty  of  peace,  which  is  to  be 
concluded  when  terms  of  a  peace  shall  be  agreed  upon  between 
Great  Britain  and  France. 

I  am,  etc., 

I.  TOWNSHEND. 

Dec.  4.  Called  on  Mr.  Heard  at  Herald's  office;  there  learned, 
in  a  conversation  with  a  Mr.  Webb,  of  seeming  great  political 
knowledge,  that  at  the  time  the  House  of  Commons  left  the  late 
administration  in  a  minority,  or  in  other  words,  refused  to  support 
Lord  North's  measures,  the  king  took  it  to  heart,  and  resented  it  so 
far  as  to  declare  he  would  leave  them  (as  he  expressed  it)  to  them 
selves,  and  go  over  to  Hanover,  from  whence  his  family  came,  and 
proceeded  so  far  as  to  order  the  administration  to  provide  two  yachts 
to  transport  himself  there  ;  whereupon  the  queen  interfered,  and 
remonstrated  against  such  a  desperate  measure,  so  fatal  to  her  and 
his  family,  as  well  as  his  own  personal  interest.  Others,  too,  repre 
sented  the  distressful  condition  to  which  the  nation  would  be  re 
duced  by  the  absence  and  want  of  royal  authority,  though  it 
seemed  to  little  effect,  so  sadly  chagrined  and  provoked  was  he. 

Lord  Rockingham  also  joined  the  remonstrants,  and  showed 
the  necessity  of  a  change  of  men  and  measures,  with  no  better 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  359 

success ; — so  naturally  obstinate  and  pertinaciously  bent  was  he  on 
his  favorite  plan  of  subjugating  his  (here  called)  rebellious  subjects 
in  America,  and  bringing  them  to  his  feet,  till  he  was  told  that  as 
sure  as  he  set  his  foot  out  of  the  kingdom,  the  parliament  would 
declare  the  crown  abdicated  and  the  throne  vacant,  nor  would  he 
ever  be  permitted  to  re-enter  the  kingdom  again, — which  argu 
ment,  it  seems,  brought  him  to  a  more  cool  and  juster  sight  of  the 
folly  of  such  a  step,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  stooping  to  a 
compliance  with  the  requisitions  of  the  public.  I  do  not  pretend 
to  indicate  the  measures  of  opposition,  but  a  more  unsuccessful  ad 
ministration,  from  whatever  cause  it  proceeded,  which  time  will 
satisfactorily  perhaps  explain,  was  never  before  engaged  to  promote 
royal  designs.  What  may  be  the  condition  of  Great  Britain  and 
America  at  the  period  of  the  present  distressful  war,  God  knows ; 
for  my  own  part,  I  tremble  at  the  event,  as  desirable  as  it  may  be, 
for  I  can  view  neither  country  without  the  most  fearful  apprehen 
sions  of  dreadful  distresses ;  whoever  began  and  voluntarily  con 
tinued  this  unreasonable,  pernicious  dispute,  does  and  will  deserve 
the  execration  of  this  and  future  ages,  and  in  the  language  of 
****,"  The  child  will  rue,  that  is  yet  unborn,  the  fatal  mea 
sures  of  Lord  North's  administration." 

Dec.  5.  The  king  delivered  his  speech  from  the  throne.  I 
went  to  see  him  robe  and  sit  on  the  throne  at  the  House  of  Lords ; 
he  was  clothed  in  green  laced  with  gold  when  he  came,  and  when 
he  went,  in  red  laced ;  it  being  the  custom  to  change  his  garments. 
The  tail  of  his  wig  was  in  a  broad,  flowing,  loose  manner ;  called 
the  coronation  tail.  His  abode  in  the  lords'  chamber  scarce  ex 
ceeded  half  an  hour,  in  which  he  read  his  speech  of  eleven  pages. 

As  one  proof  among  many  that  might  be  given  of  the  restraint 
and  disguise  of  real  sentiments  on  the  part  of  courtiers,  from  the 
highest  character  in  the  presence  chamber  to  the  lowest  lounger 
and  attendant  at  ministerial  levees,  take  the  following  : — When  the 
king  found  himself  obliged  to  take  new  ministers,  and  give  up  Lord 
North  and  his  associates,  it  is  notorious  that  it  was  abhorrent  to  the 
royal  mind,  and  being  naturally  of  a  pertinacious,  obstinate  temper, 
was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  brought  to  yield  a  reluctant  consent. 
On  the  first  court  day  after  the  appointment,  when  he  was  in  a 
manner  forced  out  of  his  closet  into  the  room  of  audience,  he  re- 


360  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1782. 

ceived  his  new  servants  with  a  smile,  and  transacted  business  with 
them  afterwards  with  as  much  seeming  cordiality  and  openness,  as 
if  they  had  been  in  his  favor,  and  in  his  most  intimate  conceits ;  so 
seemingly  satisfied  and  so  serene  was  the  royal  countenance,  that 
all  the  newspapers  sounded  forth  the  gracious  monarch's  obliging, 
condescending  goodness  to  the  public  wishes,  though  nothing  was 
farther  from  his  heart,  had  not  the  necessity  of  his  affairs  impelled 
him  thereto.  At  the  same  time  coming  up  to  Mr.  Wilkes,  he  said 
he  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  thank  him  for  his  very  proper 
and  laudable  behavior  in  the  late  riot ;  took  notice  of  his  looks, 
which  indicated  a  want  of  health,  advised  him  to  a  country  air  and 
exercise,  which,  said  his  majesty,  I  find  by  experience  an  excellent 
expedient  to  procure  and  preserve  health ;  all  this  with  the  same 
apparent  sincerity,  as  if  they  had  been  in  a  continued  course  of 
paying  and  receiving  compliments,  congratulations,  and  acknow 
ledgments  for  mutual  kindnesses  and  good  offices,  though  all  the 
world  knows  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  three  kingdoms  more 
thoroughly  hated,  nor  whom  he  had  taken  a  more  foolish  and  un 
necessary  pains  to  ruin.  The  above-mentioned  interview  being 
told  of  in  company,  Mr.  Wilkes  took  occasion  to  remark  in  the 
following  words : — "  To  have  heard  the  king,  one  would  have 
thought  I  was  consulting  a  quack  on  the  score  of  my  health." 

Dec.  6.  Read  the  king's  speech,  declaring  his  offer  of  inde 
pendency  to  America,  and  his  hopes  soon  of  a  general  peace. 

Dec.  16.  Received  from  a  Cumberlander  a  note  informing  me 
of  Miss  Curwen,  an  heiress  of  said  county,  having  married  with  a 
Mr.  Christian,  possessing  a  small  estate  adjoining  her  large  one. 

Dec.  17.  Dined  at  Capt.  Hay's,  with  Mr.  Danforth  and  a  Mr. 
Burges,  a  warm  opposer  of  American  independence,  who  asserted 
that  a  great  majority  of  his  countrymen  (English)  abhor  the  idea, 
(which  Mr.  Danforth  silently  controverts,)  declaring  they  will  for 
cibly  oppose  the  plan ;  thinks  the  minister  who  attempts  it  deserves 
the  gallows,  and  will  join  in  bringing  him  to  it ;  with  this  reserve 
only,  should  Lord  North  and  a  great  majority  of  the  parliament  co 
incide,  then  it  would  be  proper  for  the  nation  to  acquiesce;  he 
also  declared  his  abhorrence  of  the  successors  of  Lord  North  and 
his  associates. 

Dec.  20.    Went  to  general  court  martial  at  the  Horse  Guards,, 


1782.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  361 

on  General  Murray,  and  abode  in  the  crowd  two  hours,  till  adjourn 
ment  at  three  o'clock ;  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  a  witness  in  favor 
of  the  impeached  had  been  several  times  called  for  on  account  of 
some  privateers  he  was  accused  of  being  concerned  in,  particularly 
the  Hannah,  afterwards  bought  for  government  service.  Sir  Wil 
liam  Draper  proposed  that  the  witness  should  be  asked  whether 
Gen.  Murray  had  received  any  profits  on  the  sale  of  prize  goods ; 
the  demand  threw  Gen.  Murray  into  an  apparent  embarrassment, 
and  cast  a  concern  on  his  face,  to  me  very  plainly  to  be  seen  ;  but 
his  witness,  Neal,  with  an  unblushing,  unembarrassed,  brazen 
countenance,  relieved  his  friend  by  giving  a  direct  negative.  Sir 
William,  expressing  great  astonishment,  turning  to  him  asked, 
"  Do  you,  upon  your  oath,  say  that  you  do  not  know  that  General 
Murray  had  any  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  prize  goods  ?" 
The  witness  repeatedly  said  he  did  not  know  he  had,  which  seemed 
to  put  Sir  WTilliam  into  an  agitation.  This  thorough-paced  witness 
appeared  determined  not  to  do  his  work  by  halves.  I  know  not 
what  effect  a  true  answer  to  the  question  would  have  had,  but  it 
seems  it  might  have  led  to  an  inquiry  which  the  general  would, 
perhaps,  be  glad  to  prevent. 

Dec.  21.  At  court-martial,  and  in  the  course  of  this  day's  evi 
dence,  it  appears  that  Sir  Wm.  Draper  catches  hold  of  every  cir 
cumstance  that  can  possibly  admit  of  the  least  complaints  ;  and  what 
man's  conduct,  who  is  possessed  of  discretionary  powers,  does  not ; 
at  least,  it  appears  General  Murray  has  not  acted  a  base,  rapacious 
part,  nor  tyrannical;  at  least,  not  seemingly  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  written  commissions  as  governor  and  vice-admiral  of  the  island 
and  its  dependencies  prudently  saving  appearances.  In  the  issue, 
by  the  complexion  of  facts  at  this  stage,  not  to  anticipate,  I  fancy 
he  may  acquit  himself,  if  not  with  great  honor,  at  least  without 
blame  :  nor  perhaps  may  Sir  William  incur  the  disgraceful  blame 
of  Admiral  Keppel's  accuser,  Sir  Hugh  Palliser.  Though  the 
prosecution  of  both  really  proceeded  from  the  same  cause,  a  real 
dislike ;  the  accusers  of  each,  in  other  respects,  stand  under  very 
different  predicaments. 

Dec.  23.  Two  hours  at  the  Horse  Guards  at  General  Murray's 
trial;  letters  between  the  parties  were  read  that  manifested  suffi 
ciently  mutual  heart-burnings  and  antipathies. 

46 


362  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1782. 

Dec.  28.  The  papers  announce  the  refugees  forsaken  or  neg 
lected  by  Lord  Shelburne  and  his  compeers ;  the  gratitude  of  courts 
ought  to  be  reckoned  among  the  nonentities  of  Lord  Rochester's 
list.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  too  far  down  the  hill  of  life  to  be 
much  distressed  at  the  events  of  a  peace  with  America  on  any  terms, 
or  continued  war — let  the  younger  look  to  it.  This  day  completes 
my  sixty-seventh  year ;  with  more  propriety  than  Jacob,  I  may 
truly  say,  "  Few  and  evil  have  been  the  days  of  the  years  of  my 
life"  God  best  knows  when  a  period  will  be  put  to  them ;  its 
suddenness  I  deprecate  not — may  I  not  be  unprepared  for  the  event. 

Dec.  31.  Walked  in  the  Park  with  Robert  Lechmere.  Capt 
Coombs  took  tea  with  me,  and  Mr.  Wiswall  called. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  363 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

London,  Jan.  6,  1783.  Walked  for  two  hours  in  the  Park ; 
saw  Lord  Shelburne  for  the  first  time  to  my  knowledge.  He  is  of 
a  middling  size  and  well  set ;  walks  strong  and  springy  ;  his  dress 
a  brown  frock  and  boots,  with  a  whip  in  his  hand. 

Jan.  7.  On  an  inquiry  concerning  Mr.  Cottenbilt,  I  find  he 
died  about  six  years  since,  and  his  wife  about  twenty  :  two  daugh 
ters,  six  and  seven  years  old  when  I  lodged  with  them  in  Whale 
bone-court,  in  1738,  are  now  living  and  widows,  one  at  Enfield, 
and  the  other  in  Holland. 

Jan.  9.  Walked  to  Brompton  ;  visited  Mr.  Hutchinson  ;  drank 
tea  and  passed  the  evening  with  Mr.  Danforth  in  philosophical 
conversation. 

Jan.  17.  Met  my  former  townsman  and  neighbor,  George 
Deblois,  in  Cheapside,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  more  than  seven 
years ;  gave  him  my  address. 

Jan.  21.  In  passing  along  Parliament-street,  saw  a  long  fu 
neral  procession,  say  fifty  carriages  ;  on  inquiry,  found  it  was  an 
officer  named  Townshend,  who  had  served  in  America. 

Jan.  23.  Advices  have  arrived  that  the  British  troops  have  left 
Charleston  and  arrived  at  New-York  ;  and  yesterday  the  Commons 
completely  liberated  Ireland  from  its  oppressive  thraldom,  to  which 
it  has  been  subject  to  the  king  and  his  ministers  for  many  years. 

Jan.  24.  This  day  strong  reports  that  preliminaries  of  peace 
are  signed.  It  is  said  great  sacrifices  are  to  be  made  by  the 
British  in  the  east ;  if  that  be  all,  it  will  be  well.  Lord  Grant- 
ham,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state,  acquainted  the  lord  mayor  that 
the  preliminaries  were  signed ;  this  is  a  matter  of  joy  to  all  well 
disposed  to  the  true  interest  of  their  country.  It  is  said  to  be  a  much 
more  favorable  peace  than,  all  things  considered,  could  be  expected. 

Jan.  25.  George  Deblois  and  Capt.  Coombs  took  tea  with  me 
and  passed  the  evening. 

Jan.  28.     Mr.  Danforth  told  me  of  a  meeting  of  Massachusetts 


364  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

refugees  at  Sir  William  Pepperell's,  to  deliberate  on  what  may  be 
proper  to  be  done  respecting  an  application.  Meeting  adjourned 
till  Saturday  next  at  same  place. 

Jan.  29.  At  king's  bench,  Westminster  Hall;  heard  a  judg 
ment  on  a  point  of  law  respecting  the  license  of  a  dissenting 
meeting-house,  given  against  the  justices,  who  endeavored  to  avail 
themselves  of  a  subterfuge  to  avoid  granting  it ;  wherein  Lord 
Mansfield  spoke  sharply  to  the  counsel  for  the  justices.  Afternoon 
at  New  England  Coffee-house,  reading  the  preliminaries  of  peace, 
which  I  confess  astonish  me  :  —  a  tract  equal  to  half  of  Europe  is 
surrendered. 

Jan.  30.  King  Chatles's  Day.  Attended  service  at  Westmin 
ster  Abbey ;  a  considerable  throng  of  fellow-worshippers  in  the 
great  aisle  of  the  choir ;  my  station  or  seat  was  in  the  prebend's 
stall.  Dr.  Bagot,  the  lately  elected  bishop  of  Bristol,  of  a  most 
diminutive  size,  preached  a  loyal  court  sermon,  giving  the  Church 
of  England's  styled  loyal  martyr  a  most  exalted  character  ;  which 
if  just,  that  unhappy  prince  has  been  sadly  misrepresented.  He 
did  not,  however,  descend  to  scurrillities  or  abuse ;  thorough-paced 
in  hierarchical  principles,  but  not  intolerant. 

Feb.  \.  Attended  a  meeting  of  refugees  at  Sir  William  Pep 
perell's  house,  Wlmpole-street,  to  consider  of  somewhat  to  be  done 
respecting  an  application  to  Parliament,  if  agreeable  to  administra 
tion.  Chose  Sir  William  Pepperell  agent  to  inquire  of  Mr. 
Secretary  Townshend  and  Lord  Shelburne,  first  lord  of  the  treasury, 
if  this  course  is  acceptable  to  them. 

Lord  North  approves  of  it,  and  advises  all  the  colonies  to  unite 
together.  Broke  up  at  three  o'clock  ;  number  present  thirty-three 
— being  all  or  nearly  all  in  town  that  had  received  treasury  allow 
ances. 

Feb.  3.  Met  my  countryman  Mr.  John  Powell,  from  Ludlow ; 
also  met  Mr.  De  Berdt,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  seven  years ;  he 
having  resided  in  the  country  since  his  marriage,  six  years  ago. 
Agreed  to  dine  with  him  to-morrow.  My  townsman,  Samuel 
Porter,  also  came  to  see  me  ;  neither  time,  climate,  change  of  place 
or  circumstances  will  ever  alter  this  man's  character  ;  I  never  knew 
one  whose  characteristic  qualities  are  so  deeply  impressed  as  his. 
Feb.  5.  Attended  the  adjournment  of  the  Massachusetts  refu- 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  365 

gees  at*  Turk's  Head,  Gerard-street,  Soho  ;  when  Sir  William 
Pepperell  reported  that  Lord  Shelburne,  by  Mr.  Secretary  Towns- 
hend,  thought  the  present  an  improper  time  to  present  a  petition  to 
Parliament.  We  enlarged  his  powers,  etc.,  and  after  much  con 
versation  on  sundry  particulars  adjourned  to  next  Saturday  week 
at  same  place.  Thirty  present. 

Feb.  7.  By  the  papers  of  this  day  it  appears  that  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  preliminaries  was  signed  by  the  French  king  on  the 
3d  instant,  and  are  arrived  here  as  soon  as  completed.  The  part 
of  France  received  by  Mr.  Fitzherbert  and  forwarded.  The  Dutch 
have  not  yet  acceded.  An  armistice  or  cessation  of  hostility  by  sea 
agreed  on  between  us. 

Feb.  11.  Informed  that  Sir  William  Pepperell  has  summoned 
a  part  of  the  Massachusetts  refugees  to  meet  at  "  Turk's-Head"  for 
a  special  occasion : — called  at  the  Treasury,  was  informed  that  a 
board  would  be  held  this  week,  and  the  commissioners'  report 
acted  on,  and  orders  respecting  the  Americans  given  out. 

Feb.  13.  Notified  to  attend  a  meeting  of  refugees — voted  to 
empower  Sir  Wm.  Pepperell  to  join  in  a  petition  to  Parliament 
malgre  au  ministre  d'etat,  (in  spite  of  the  minister  of  state.) 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

London,  Feb.  11,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  unpleasing  to  you  to  be  made  acquainted 
that  the  refugees  from  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  under 
the  denomination  of  loyalists,  to  the  number  of  thirty-  three,  met  at 
Sir  William  Pepperell's  to  consult  about  the  choice  of  an  agent  to 
confer  with  the  agents  of  the  other  provinces,  in  order  to  form  a 
plan  for  addressing,  remonstrating,  or  petitioning  Parliament ;  but 
whether  of  the  three  I  am  ignorant,  though  present  at  the  choice, 
which  by  an  unanimous  vote  fell  on  Sir  William ; — and  also  to  re 
ceive  a  report  from  him  of  Mr.  Secretary  Townshend's  answer 
respecting  Lord  Shelburne's  approbation  or  disapprobation,  without 
the  former  it  being  judged  improper  to  proceed.  Mr.  Townshend 
excused  himself  to  Sir  WTilliam  for  not  having  applied  to  Lord 
Shelburne,  by  pleading  business,  but  promised  to  call  on  him  the 
next  day,  etc.,  if  practicable,  and  thus  the  affair  stood  till  the  5th 


366  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

inst.,  to  which  time  the  meeting  was  adjourned,  when  Sir  William 
reported  that  Lord  Shelburne  thought  the  present  an  improper  time 
to  present  a  petition  to  Parliament.  Since  the  meeting  I  find  there 
are  those  averse  to  all  measures  at  present,  and  amongst  others  I 
confess  myself  a  dissentient  for  the  following  reason :  the  king 
having  taken  the  refugees  under  his  care  by  recommending  their 
case  to  the  consideration  of  Parliament. 

Expectation  is  on  tiptoe  respecting  the  result  of  the  commis 
sioners,  Wilmot  and  Coke,  chosen  by  the  lords  of  the  treasury  to 
examine,  settle,  adjust  and  proportion  the  claims  and  allowances  of 
the  refugees,  who  have  been  and  are  on  the  list  of  grantees — 
before  whom  we  in  that  class  have  been.  Some  are  apprehensive 
of  a  retrenchment ;  some  have  too  much  reason  to  fear  a  total  ex 
cision  ;  very  few,  indeed,  have  hopes  of  an  addition.  It  is  reported 
and  expected  that  the  petitioners  who  hitherto  have  had  no  allow 
ances,  will  be  soon  called  before  them  to  show  the  grounds  of  their 
pretences  to  governmental  charity,  when  probably  some  pittance 
will  be  granted.  The  salaries  of  all  the  officers  under  the  crown 
in  the  thirteen  United  States  have  been  for  some  time  past  struck 
off;  and  part  to  some  will  be  given  under  the  same  denomination 
with  us,  who  have  held  none  before.  Judge  Auchmuty  of  Boston 
has  for  these  several  months  been  annihilated,  and  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  humble  petitioner  for  a  hundred  pounds. 

Sir  William  finding  his  powers  too  limited,  they  were  enlarged, 
and  he  is  now  empowered  to  consult  and  act  in  all  cases  in  con 
junction  with  the  agents  from  the  other  provinces,  giving  his 
private  word  not  to  take  any  important  step  without  consulting  his 
constituents ;  which  precaution  was  universally  thought  necessary, 
as  Joseph  Galloway  is  suspected  of  sinister  designs. 

It  is  said  that  they  are  making  great  retrenchments  in  offices 
and  officers'  salaries  and  fees.  Think  you  while  this  spirit  lasts,  we 
useless,  burdensome  aliens  shall  escape  untouched  1  that  we  dogs 
shall  be  longer  suffered  to  take  the  bread  out  of  their  own  chil 
dren's  mouths  ?  I  trow  not. 

I  fancy  you  wonder  at  the  terms  granted  America,  as  all  the 
world  does ;  but  perhaps  it  may  abate  when  you  shall  be  told  the 
agent  Mr.  Oswald  is  eighty-two  years  old,  has  been  a  correspond 
ent  of  Congress,  and  is  a  very  particular  friend  of  Mr.  Laurens. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS,  367 

As  Americans  will  have  a  right  by  treaty  to  navigate  the  lakes 
to  and  from  the  ocean,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the  country  where 
furs  are  taken  lies  within  the  territories,  it  will  be  well  if  Great 
Britain  gets  any  supply  of  that  commodity  but  from  the  high 
mightinesses  of  America.  Whether  our  rulers  had  any,  and  what 
concealed  purpose  in  this  American  treaty,  I  have  not  penetration 
enough  to  discover ;  that  it  proceeded  from  ignorance  is  hardly 
supposable,  if  from  inattention,  unpardonable ;  and  I  confess  the 
last  most  likely ;  for  had  the  wish  of  administration  been  ever  so 
violent  to  compromise  at  all  events  matters  with  America,  it  is  not 
supposable  she  would  ultimately  have  insisted  on  such  immeasura 
ble  tracts,  which  far  exceed  all  Europe  in  extent.  But  it  is  now 
irrecoverable ;  the  die  is  cast — the  ratification  completed  here  and 
sent  to  France,  and  on  the  3d  was  ratified  there  and  exchanged. 
That  a  peace  was  necessary,  all  moderate  men  allow,  and  most, 
that  in  all  other  respects  saving  America  it  is  as  favorable  as  could 
have  been  expected ;  in  my  mind  better.  I  think  our  enemies 
have  shown  laudable  moderation. 

With  great  regard, 

S.    CURWEN. 

TO  REV.  ISAAC  SMITH,  SIDMOUTH. 

London,  Feb.  14,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

In  a  letter  I  received  yesterday  from  my  friend  William  Pyn- 
chon,  Esq.  of  Salem,  is  the  following : — "  Capt.  John  Derby  will 
most  willingly  accommodate  any  of  his  countrymen  who  may  wish 
to  return  with  him."  Capt.  Derby,  in  a  large  ship  of  his  brother's%r 
is  now  at  Nantz,  to  return  in  a  month ;  which  is  encouraging  to 
all  not  under  the  ban  of  the  states,  and  I  am  told  their  prejudices 
are  surprisingly  abated,  and  there  seems  a  disposition  to  forget  past 

animosities  and  kindly  receive  all  the  fugitives. 

******* 

This  day  I  went  to  the  Treasury  to  inquire  about  my  allowance, 
and  to  my  comfort  found  it  stood  as  at  first.  A  few  are  raised, 
some  struck  off,  more  lessened.  Of  those  that  have  come  to  my 
knowledge,  Gov.  Oliver's  is  lessened  .£100,  out  of  <£300 ;  Mr. 
Williams,  who  has  married  a  fortune  here,  is  struck  off;  Harrison 


368  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

Gray,  with  a  wife  and  two  children,  struck  off;  his  brother  Lewis 
lessened  to  .£50  ;  D.  Ingersoll  reduced  from  .£200  to  £100 ;  Sam 
uel  H.  Sparhawk  from  £150  to  £80;  Benjamin  Gridley  from 
j£150  to  .£100;  Thomas  Danforth's,  Samuel  Sewall's,  Samuel 
Porter's,  Peter  Johonnot's,  G.  Brinley's,  Edward  Oxnard's  and 
mine,  continue  as  at  first ;  Chandler's  raised  .£50 ;  Samuel  Fitch's 
.£20 ;  Col.  Morrow's  .£50  ;  one  whose  name  I  forget  is  sunk  from 
£100  to  <£30  ;  and  many  names  and  sums  totally  forgotten.  On 
the  whole,  it  is  said  the  sum  paid  last  year  to  refugees,  amounting 
to  near  .£80,000,  is  now  shrunk  by  the  late  reform  to  .£38,000  ; 
and  if  the  commissioners  act  on  the  same  frugal  plan  respecting  the 
petitioners  whose  cases  will  probably  soon  be  considered,  I  very 
much  doubt  whether  the  sum  of  last  year's  expenditure  under  this 
head,  including  all  their  additional  allowances,  will  not  exceed 
this  year's. 

This  is  the  great,  the  important  day  on  which  the  prelimina 
ries  are  to  undergo  a  most  critical  and  severe  discussion,  and  will 
determine  the  fate  of  Lord  Shelburne's  administration  ;  news  un 
luckily  for  it  has  arrived,  that  the  government  of  Virginia  has 
declared  they  will  pay  no  regard  to  any  remonstrance,  or  request, 
or  requisition  respecting  refugees,  which  manifests  the  fatality  of 
the  preliminary  article  recommending  the  same. 

Your  faithful  friend,         S.  CURWEN. 

Feb.  17.  'Mr.  Flucker  died  suddenly  in  his  bed  yesterday  morn 
ing,  and  is  the  forty-fifth  of  the  refugees  from  Massachusetts  within 
my  knowledge,  that  have  died  in  England.  He  was  secretary  of 
state  for  Massachusetts. 

Feb.  18.  Mr.  Deblois  told  me  that  Virginia  had  expressly  de 
clared  they  would  not  regard  any  remonstrance,  requisition,  or 
request  of  Congress  respecting  the  loyalists  of  their  province,  as  the 
fifth  preliminary  article  between  Great  Britain  and  America  stipu 
lates  :  the  fatality  of  which  was  visible  enough  before  this  proof. 
It  is  likely  the  rest  of  the  states  will  copy  so  laudable  an  example, 
and  exhibit  thereby  to  the  world  a  specimen  of  their  power,  want 
of  virtue,  moderation,  and  disregard  to  the  principles  of  humanity. 
Shame  to  Great  Britain  that  these  unhappy  persons  stand  in  need 
of  a  recommendation  promising  such  small  efficacy — a  striking  les- 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  369 

son  to  future  generations  never  to  support  the  reins  of  government 
against  the  determined  resolution  of  a  very  numerous  people.  The 
House  of  Commons  did  not  rise  till  seven  o'clock  this  morning ; 
being  engaged  in  debate  on  preliminary  articles  of  peace,  and  pro 
visional  articles  between  Great  Britain  and  America.  The  magni 
tude  and  importance  of  the  subject  deeply  employs  the  attention 
not  only  of  the  managers,  but  the  public  universally,  who  are  all 
ears  for  the  result.  Lord  Shelburne  and  administration  are  left  in  a 
minority  by  sixteen  in  the  Commons.  In  the  House  of  Lords  strong 
opposition  to  the  terms  of  peace.  English  pride  cannot  brook  to 
receive  the  dictates  of  a  conqueror. 

Feb.  19.  Evening  at  Dr.  Graham's  lecture  on  health,  in  his 
«  Temple  of  Health,"  in  Pall  Mall,  near  St.  James's.  The  first  room 
entered  was  properly  a  vestibule,  from  whence  through  folding 
doors  one  passes  into  the  apartment  holding  the  electric  bed,  about 
seven  feet  square,  raised  three  feet  from  the  floor  j  over  the  frame 
at  the  head  are  fixed  two  balls  gilded  of  four  inches  diameter  and 
one  inch  apart,  to  receive  the  electric  spark  from  the  machine 
above,  continued  down  in  a  glass  tube  through  the  floor.  Passing 
this,  you  enter  the  room  of  Apollo,  through  a  narrow  entry,  having 
on  each  hand  two  or  three  niches  containing  statues  gilded,  about 
half  the  natural  size.  The  first  object  that  meets  the  eye  is  the 
temple  of  Apollo,  being  a  round  cupola  five  feet  in  diameter, 
supported  by  six  fluted  pillars  of  the  Corinthian  order  and  eight 
feet  high,  in  imitation  of  scagliola ;  in  the  centre  stands  a  tri- 
podal  frame  with  concave  sides,  on  which  rests  in  each  angle  a 
lion  couchant,  supporting  a  long  frame  for  the  branch  of  six  or 
eight  lamps,  adorned  (or  rather  overcharged)  with  crystals,  whose 
tremulous  motion  by  the  company's  walking  adds  great  brilliancy 
to  the  appearance,  the  walls  all  around  having  many  branches 
with  three  candles  each,  besides  two  more  large  central  branches, 
suspended  by  gilt  chains  from  the  ceiling.  The  decorations  in  the 
frippery  kind  are  in  great  profusion  in  this  as  well  as  in  the  other 
room,  consisting  of  glass  in  various  forms  and  sizes,  inlaid  and 
hanging — many  gilt  statues  of  Apollo,  Venus,  Hercules,  Escula- 
pius,  etc.,  besides  a  few  pictures.  The  master  discovered  a  ready 
elocution,  great  medical  knowledge,  and  appeared  well  qualified  to 
support  the  character  he  assumes. 

47 


370  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

March  4.  Called  at  G.  Deblois's  lodgings,  and  found  that  he 
sailed  for  Halifax  on  the  1st.  Met  Capt.  Coombs,  who  informed 
me  that  Mr.  Rowe  at  Treasury  was  drawing  our  pensions ;  hast 
ened  and  received  my  order. 

March  7.  Government  unsettled.  Old  administration  out,  no 
successors  agreed  on.  Lord  Gower  has  been  solicited  by  the  king- 
to  accept  the  premiership,  or  to  be  first  lord  of  the  treasury — the 
lord  chancellor  and  Charles  Jenkinson  are  of  the  interior  cabinet. 
It  is  said  the  king  has  scarce  eaten  these  two  days,  and  is  violently 
reluctant  to  take  Charles  J.  Fox  into  his  counsels ;  and  the  party 
wherein  he  is  engaged  is  by  far  the  most  powerful,  to  which  Lord 
North  has  lately  allied  himself;  to  separate  which  has  been  the 
king's  endeavor,  but  it  seems  without  success.  It  is  generally 
thought  the  king  must  at  length  yield.  He  will  have  to  adopt  the 
whole  Rockingham  party,  or  suffer  the  wheels  of  government  to 
stop  till  Parliament  remonstrate,  which  it  soon  must  if  the  arrange 
ment  is  not  immediately  made,  all  national  business  being  at  a 
stand. 

March  15.  Administration  not  fully  settled  ;  the  king  claim 
ing  the  right  of  filling  up  vacancies  in  the  cabinet  in  case  of  death 
or  removal,  and  the  new  administration  demanding  to  have  none 
added  but  by  their  consent,  that  there  may  be  no  jarring  among 
themselves ;  and  they  will  not  act  till  this  be  settled. 

March  17.  Visited  Mr.  Richard  Clarke — thence  to  the  Treas 
ury  to  inquire  when  the  commissioners  were  to  meet  again,  and 
meeting  Mr.  Alleyn,  a  clerk,  was  informed  about  Mrs.  Gen.  Wins- 
low's*  allowance ;  finding  a  mistake  had  been  made  by  Mr.  Rowe 
to  her  prejudice,  I  proceeded  to  inform  her  brother  Clark  of  it,  and 
from  thence  to  her  own  lodgings  ;  she  being  absent  I  returned,  and 
stopping  at  her  sister  Deblois's,  found  her  there,  and  rejoiced  her 
heart  by  acquainting  her  that  her  allowance  stood  as  at  first  grant 
ed,  and  received  her  thanks. 

March  19.  Walked  to  Park.  Meeting  Mr.  Thomas  Hutchin- 
son,  joined  and  accompanied  him  to  Hyde  Park  corner ;  he  ac- 
cuainted  me  that  Col.  Phips,  who  is  just  arrived,  relates  that, 
during  his  captivity  at  Boston  he  was  civilly  treated  by  all  ranks, 

*  Lady  of  Gen.  John  Winslow  of  Marshfield,  a  refugee. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  371 

and  although  obliged  to  reside  at  Cambridge,  the  state  forbidding 
strangers  a  residence  at  Boston,  he  could  easily  obtain  leave  to  visit 
there  in  the  daytime. 

TO  ANDREW  DALGLISH,  ESQ.,  GLASGOW. 

London,  March  17,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

My  design  herein  is  to  give  you  my  crude,  and  ask  in  return 
your  better  digested  thoughts,  on  the  present  critical  situation  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  States  of  North  America.  However  exult 
ing  they  may  feel  in  this  first  hour  of  their  deliverance  from  British 
governmental  authority,  they  have  in  my  poor  opinion  an  immeas 
urable  distance  of  road  to  travel  over,  intercepted  with  bogs,  preci 
pices,  cloud-topped,  scraggy  mountains  and  deep  valleys,  before 
they  will  be  able  to  arrive  at  an  improvable  champaign  country, 
where  ease,  plenty  and  content  are  to  be  found  : — in  other  words, 
that  country  abounds  in  lawless,  ungovernable  subjects,  disposed, 
however,  to  imitate  the  vices,  follies  and  luxurious  fashions  of 
wealthy  states,  with  comparatively  little  running  cash,  immense 
debts,  no  funds  established,  and  permanent  and  powerful  creditors 
to  account  with.  I  was  yesterday  told  by  Mr.  R.  Clarke  that 
Massachusetts  was  answerable  for  a  yearly  interest  of  twenty  thou 
sand  sterling  due  for  a  loan.  We  are  at  this  period  in  this  country 
in  a  kind  of  anarchy ;  no  settled  administration,  the  most  import 
ant  national  concerns  neglected  or  delayed. 

The  Rockingham  party  is,  evidently,  the  most  numerous,  and 
therefore  most  powerful,  and  since  the  coalition  between  the  man 
of  prerogative  and  the  man  of  the  people,  the  latter,  very  justly  so 
styled,  can  carry  all  before  him.  The  great  obstacle,  however,  to 
a  full  establishment  of  the  cabinet  is,  it  seems,  whether  the  present 
lord  chancellor  and  Lord  Stormont  shall  be  of  it ;  which  the  king 
insists  upon,  designing  them,  if  he  can  prevail  to  bring  them  in,  as 
checks  on  the  rest,  these  two  being  professed  abhorrers  of  the  pres 
ent  designs  of  the  embryo  administration.  The  other  point  is  the 
king's  right  to  fill  up  vacancies  that  may  happen  by  death  or 
removal,  which  is  refused  him,  saying  they  will  have  none  but 
those  in  whom  they  can  confide.  If  the  king  gains  his  point,  af 
fairs  will  go  on  in  the  old  channel,  and  there  will  be  no  reform ;  if 


372  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1783. 

he  yields,  he  will  scarcely  be  more  than  a  doge  of  Venice,  and  the 
cabinet  will  rule  and  possess  the  whole  power  of  the  state. 

Respecting  the  public,  it  seems  to  be  of  no  importance  who  is  in 
or  who  is  out ;  all  are  in  pursuit  of  one  plan  invariably  to  the  neglect 
of  the  general  welfare,  or  more  properly  at  the  expense  of  it.  In 
this  inter-reign  Lord  Shelburne  sits  and  acts  in  the  treasury,  and  Mr. 
Pitt  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer : — as  to  the  character  of  the  for 
mer,  though  I  profess  no  veneration  for  him,  yet,  as  an  active  minister 
at  the  head  of  affairs,  whether  the  public  could,  in  this  crisis,  have 
been  better  served,  is  a  doubt  in  my  mind,  notwithstanding  the 
clamor  raised  by  the  newspaper  writers.  I  fancy  if  you  will  read 
his  speech  of  the  14th  February,  and  that  published  in  the  Ad 
vertiser  of  this  day,  you  will  see  more  reasons  for  the  minister's 
justification  than  disappointed  pride,  private  interest,  personal  dis 
like  and  party  rage  will  allow  ;  but  when  one  reflects  on  the  al 
most  universal  cry  of  the  nation  for  peace  ;  the  act  of  the  legislature 
last  session,  wherein  the  independence,  the  only  bone  of  contention, 
was  as  good  as  given  up,  and  the  king  almost  commanded  to  put 
an  end  to  the  wTar  in  America  ;  the  insupportable  load  of  the  na 
tional  debt,  and  without  some  capital  reform,  which  in  a  time  of 
war  is  utterly  impracticable,  will  in  the  event  prove  so;  the  ruin 
ous  prospects  from  a  decided  superiority  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  which  would  have  enabled  our  proud,  revengeful  enemies 
to  require  much  more  humiliating  demands  than  the  present  terms ; 
one  would  think  the  nation  should  rather  rejoice  to  have  escaped 
so  dreadful  a  catastrophe  as  a  continuance  most  probably  might 
have  brought  on,  and  be  thankful  our  enemies  were  inspired  with 
such  a  moderate  spirit.  It  is  not  to  be  conceived  that  proud,  stub 
born,  successful  enemies,  just  on  the  eve  of  obtaining  the  long  wished 
object  of  their  ambition,  would  be  persuaded  to  relinquish  all  the 
advantages  gained  in  war  without  any  compensation.  The  great 
moderation  of  the  French  court  under  such  advantageous  circum 
stances  as  they  now  confessedly  are,  was  shown  before  parties  ap 
peared  so  prominent ;  but  Britons,  unused  to  receive  the  law,  cannot 
without  hard  struggles  submit — time  and  cool  reflection  will  clearly 
manifest  the  wisdom  of  the  act  of  last  session,  and  if  that  be  ac 
knowledged,  the  conduct  of  the  late  administration,  meaning  Lord 
Shelburne  and  his  associates,  must  of  consequence  be  approved. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  373 

Before  the  preliminaries  are  ratified  or  hostilities  ceased  in  the 
channel,  an  American  ship  laden  with  oil,  with  her  thirteen  stripes 
flying,  came  into  the  river  from  Nantucket  by  way  of  Ostend,  and 
our  London  traders  were  but  little  less  in  a  hurry ;  for  within  a  few 
days  after  the  preliminaries  were  published,  ten  or  twelve  vessels 
were  posted  up  in  the  coffee-houses,  advertising  for  freights  to 
New-York  and  Boston.  Nor,  indeed,  does  government  seem  much 
less  precipitate,  for  a  commercial  treaty  act  is  now  under  consider 
ation  of  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  and  will  probably  in  a 
few  days  be  ready  for  the  royal  signature.  The  loyalists  have  been 
for  these  two  months  very  deeply  engaged  in  forming  plans  to 
counterbalance  the  dreadful  evils  consequent  on  ministerial  neglect 
in  the  late  treaty.  I  can  foresee  no  good  to  arise  from  their  indus 
try;  on  the  contrary,  apprehend  mischief,  and  therefore  decline 
attending. 

What  think  you  of  returning  to  your  late  abode,  Salem  ? 
Should  it  be  my  lot,  I  shall  wish  for  a  few  old  acquaintances, 
without  which  the  great  revolutions  in  public  and  private,  will,  I 
apprehend,  render  my  return  not  desirable.  Please  favor  me  with 
your  undisguised  sentiments  freely  on  the  foregoing,  and  whatever 
intelligence  you  may  think  proper. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

March  20.  Attended  the  Royal  Society's  weekly  meeting  at 
Somerset  House ;  going  into  the  antechamber  common  to  the  An 
tiquarian  Society  and  Royal  Society,  one  waits  until  an  acquaint 
ance  or  friend  appears  to  procure  your  name  to  be  set  down  in  the 
list,  which  is  read  aloud  by  an  attendant  at  the  president's  order ; 
when  the  society,  who  are  already  met,  are  about  to  begin,  each  per 
son  regularly  enters  and  takes  his  seat,  (long  slips  being  placed  .on 
either  side  a  middle  aisle.)  At  the  head  of  the  room  sits  the  pres 
ident,  now  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  with  his  hat  on  his  head,  all  others 
uncovered ;  he  in  a  chair  of  state  elevated  three  or  four  steps ;  just 
below  it  and  on  the  same  level  with  the  floor  is  a  half  round  ma 
hogany  table,  having  only  two  assessors,  viz.,  the  two  secretaries, 
Dr.  Matty,  a  person  of  profound  knowledge  and  learning,  but  of  a 


374  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1783. 

most  diminutive,  unpromising  person,  and  a  Mr.  Grey,  who  read 
the  communications  to  the  society  respecting  experiments  and  any 
acquisitions  of  knowledge  in  astronomy,  etc.  Among  others  on 
this  occasion  was  read  a  letter  from  the  famous  Herschel,  lately  in 
vited  from  Bath  to  Windsor  by  the  king,  and  for  his  use  the  round 
tower  there  is  assigned  :  by  his  discoveries  in  astronomy  it  seems 
our  solar  system  is  travelling  through  the  immensity  of  space  in  a 
progressive  motion,  which  he  deduces  from  an  apparent  change  of 
relative  situation  of  some  fixed  stars  most  visible  or  of  largest  di 
ameter,  and  therefore  nearest  to  us.  The  election  of  members  is 
by  ballot,  each  member  putting  in  his  vote  into  the  box,  presented 
to  each  separately,  which  being  delivered  into  the  president's 
hands,  he  empties  out  on  the  desk  before  him,  and  after  counting, 
declares  the  candidate  elected  (or  otherwise)  a  fellow  of  this  soci 
ety  ;  an  instance  I  saw  this  night,  and  it  is  not  a  common  sight. 
A  candidate  stands  four  months  after  proposed  before  balloted  for. 
Dr.  Cope,  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  being  this  night  proposed,  the  presi 
dent  out  of  regard  to  his  dignity  as  a  peer  of  Ireland,  dispensed 
with  the  usual  forms  and  proceeded  to  a  ballot,  which  was  not  ob 
jected  to.  The  assembly  was  in  number  to  appearance  scarce 
short  of  two  hundred — the  room  a  noble  one,  eighty  feet  by 
thirty,  and  twenty  high  ;  the  walls  covered  on  all  sides  with  half 
length  and  quarter  portraits,  arranged  one  above  the  other — Sir 
Isaac  Newton's  being  at  the  head  of  the  room  in  the  centre  of  the 
middle  space,  and  opposite  the  door.  A  person  of  modest  assu 
rance  may  push  himself  in  amongst  the  company,  few  of  the  visit 
ors  being  known,  and  no  inquiry  made  on  whose  account  one 
appears  there.  A  friend  engaged  Dr.  Fothergill  to  insert  my  name, 
which  he  entered  by  speaking  to  Dr.  Matty,  without  entering  his 
name.  Every  one  who  appears  is  presumed  to  have  some  relish 
for  and  acquaintance  with  some  one  or  more  of  the  branches  of 
literature,  etc.,  for  that  reason  the  society  is  not  strict  in  examining 
their  pretences  to  attend.  The  meeting  begins  at  eight,  and  com 
monly  ends  at  ten — none  spoke  but  the  president,  nor  read  but  the 
secretaries. 

March  21.    Met  the  king  in  a  sedan  chair,  accompanied  by  ten 
or  twelve  yeomen  and  footmen,  going  to  St.  James's.    New  min- 


1783.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  375 

istry  is  said  to  have  been  settled •;  Lord  North,  'tis  said,  to  return 
to  public  life  as  a  secretary  of  state.  If  so,  probably  at  the  king's 
earnest  entreaty,  otherwise  it  is  hard  to  account  for. 

March  24.  To  the  reproach  of  the  king  and  the  nation,  gov 
ernment  is  without  a  ministry,  notwithstanding  the  daily  reports  of 
an  arrangement ;  selfishness,  venality,  rapacity  and  dissipation  are 
the  characteristics  of  this  age  and  nation  ;  to  which  must  be  added, 
in  order  to  finish  the  picture,  a  total  disregard  of  the  idea  of  public 
welfare,  which  all  men  speculatively  consider  as  a  necessary,  but  as 
a  crazy  phantom,  and  therefore  practically  neglected. 

March  28.  At  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons,  which 
soon  after  meeting  adjourned  to  Monday.  Favored  for  the  first 
time  with  a  sight  of  young  Pitt,  that  forward  political  plant ;  may 
he  imitate  his  father  as  well  in  integrity  and  amor  patrice,  as  in 
oratorical  ability  and  natural  powers.  Some  think  appearances 
promise  a  more  abundant  harvest ;  should  he  continue  in  the 
national  councils  the  public  will  be  highly  favored  of  heaven. 

March  29.  At  Treasury,  informed  by  Mr.  Rowe  that  Lord 
Shelburne  had  surrendered  his  seat  as  first  lord.  No  ministry  set 
tled,  nor  to  appearance  is  like  to  be  soon  ;  the  king  unyielding, 
and  the  candidates  as  stiff  and  uncomplying.  The  old  story  of 
Lord  Bute's  pernicious  influence  prevails  again  ;  there  is  some  ad 
vice  unseen  that  supports  the  king's  obstinacy,  for  I  know  not  what 
else  to  call  his  non-compliance. 

March  30.  At  St.  James's,  in  the  gallery ;  the  king  and  queen 
passed  through  from  the  chapel  to  the  green-room ;  on  leaving  the 
antechamber  I  luckily,  being  small,  crowded  myself  under  the  elbow 
of  a  good-natured  yeoman,  and  in  the  front  rank  had  a  full  view  of 
the  king,  queen,  prince  of  Wales,  and  the  court  train.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  yeoman  stood  a  boy,  who  on  the  king's  approach, 
bending  one  knee,  presented  a  petition ;  the  king  took  it  without 
any  further  notice,  and  after  walking  a  few  steps,  put  it  into  the 
hand  of  the  lord  in  waiting.  Soon  after  I  departed,  leaving  the 
gallery  filling,  and  the  passage  under  the  piazzas  in  the  court 
middle  lined  double  on  both  sides,  to  have  a  sight  of  the  company 
going  up. 

March  31.  Samuel  Porter,  Peter  Frye  and  myself,  visited  Mr* 
Hughes  at  dinner  and  tea. 


376  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

April  2.  Read  a  Boston  newspaper,  where  I  saw  poor  Coombs' 
estate  in  Marblehead  advertised  for  sale.  I  really  pity  my  poor 
fellow  refugee,  and  think  him  cruelly  treated  by  his  savage  towns 
men.  This  day's  paper  announces  administration  settled :— 

Duke  of  Portland,  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury. 

Lord  John  Cavendish,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

Lord  North  and  Charles  J.  Fox,  Secretaries  of  State. 

Lord  Stormont,  President  of  the  Council. 

Earl  of  Carlisle,  Lord  Privy  Seal. 

Lord  Keppel,  first  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 

Mr.  Burke,  Paymaster  of  the  Forces. 

Colonel  North,  Treasurer  of  the  Navy. 

April  5.  Called  at  Mr.  Tassey's  to  have  a  sight  of  the  curious 
cabinet  of  satin  wood,  inlaid  and  decorated  with  many  devices, 
figurative,  etc.,  on  front  and  sides :  its  contents,  rows  of  drawers 
containing  impressions  of  intaglios,  cameos,  seals,  etc.,  to  the  num 
ber  of  more  than  six  thousand,  duplicated,  to  be  sent  to  the  Empress 
of  Russia  by  her  express  order, — value,  several  thousands ;  she  is 
a  great  encourager  of  ingenious  artists,  particularly  English  ones. 

April  7.  Passed  a  crowd  attending  procession  in  Parliament- 
street,  going  to  take  the  Westminster  candidate,  Charles  J.  Fox, 
from  his  lodgings  to  the  hustings  under  St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden 
portico.  First  marched  musicians  two  and  two,  then  four  men  sup 
porting  two  red  painted  poles  having  on  top  the  cap  of  liberty  of 
a  dark  blue  color;  to  each  was  fastened  a  light  blue  silk  standard 
about  nine  feet  long  and  five  wide,  having  inscribed  thereon  in 
golden  letters  these  words,  "  The  Man  of  the  People ;"  followed 
by  the  butchers  with  marrow-bones  and  cleavers ;  then  the  com 
mittee  two  and  two,  holding  in  their  hands  white  wands ;  in  the 
rear  the  carriages.  They  stopped  at  his  house  in  St.  James's- 
street,  where  taking  him  up,  he  accompanied  them  in  Mr.  Byng's 
carriage  through  Pall  Mall  and  the  Strand  to  the  hustings,  when 
the  election  proceeded ;  made  without  opposition,  no  competitor 
appearing  against  him. 

April  13.  Called  on  Mr.  Jonathan  Williams  and  Captain 
Johnson,  and  conducted  them  to  Essex  House  chapel ;  Mr.  Lindsay 
preached  ; — subject,  the  address  of  the  gospel  to  the  poorer  and 
middling  ranks,  which  shows  both  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God. 


1783.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  377 


19.  Met  two  numerous  companies  of  sailors  parading 
through  the  streets  with  an  ancient  ;  told  they  were  going  to 
demand  of  the  king  their  wages,  having  been  discharged  without 
payment  ;  but  in  returning  through  the  Park  could  get  no  intelli 
gence  of  their  having  made  any  demand  at  the  Palace  or  Admiralty, 
and  conclude  they  had  been  persuaded  to  separate  on  a  promise  of 
speedy  payment  ;  a  number  yesterday  having  obtained  the  king's 
promise  that  the  sailors  should  be  relieved  by  the  first  instalment 
of  the  present  loan  to  be  made  in  a  few  days. 

May  13.  Captain  Coombs  called  early  by  agreement  with  me, 
and  then  departed  to  take  coach  for  Kew  Bridge  at  nine  o'clock  ; 
arrived  at  eleven  ;  from  thence  on  foot  through  Kew  and  the  ter 
race  to  Richmond,  and  through  Twickenham  to  Hampton  Court  ; 
dined  at  King's  Arms  ;  proceeded  through  the  gardens  to  the 
palace,  and  passing  through  observed  the  paintings  in  better  order 
than  before  ;  was  informed  they  were  lately  cleaned  by  the  king's 
order,  and  some  new  ones  brought  from  the  queen's  house  and 
Kensington  ;  returned  back  through  Bushy  Park  by  a  returned 
chaise.  Was  told  that  Kensington  Palace  may  be  seen  as  well  as 
the  others  ;  and  also,  that  Hyde  Park  came  to  the  crown  by  the 
Duchess  of  York,  Lord  Clarendon's  daughter,  the  mother  of  queens 
Mary  and  Anne,  and  would  in  eight  years  revert  back,  unless  the 
the  king  should  obtain  a  new  lease  thereof. 

May  14.  Went  to  Shoreditch  work-house  to  see  a  Mr.  Best, 
who  is  remarkable  as  a  most  perfect  textuarian,  and  without 
looking  in  the  Bible  refers  to  particular  texts,  repeating  the  very 
words  and  all  of  them,  to  the  number  of  many  verses,  often  some 
times  apposite  to  the  circumstances  of  the  applier  ;  —  seems  not  at 
a  loss  for  any  word  or  order  in  the  text,  and  repeats  slowly.  He  first 
looks  into  the  right  hand,  pretending  to  a  great  knowledge  of  pal 
mistry  ;  among  other  parts,  he  applied  the  3d,  4th,  and  5th  verses 
of  30th  Deuteronomy  to  me,  being  then  a  refugee  from  America 
in  London.  His  language  is  only  in  Scripture  phrases;  his  room, 
large  in  extent,  is  filled  almost  with  work  of  his  own,  in  straw,  of 
Scripture  stories  —  as  the  creation,  flood,  passage  of  the  Israelites 
over  the  Red  Sea,  etc.  ;  —  New  Testament  —  the  nativity,  baptism 
in  Jordan,  miracle  of  loaves  and  fishes,  broad  and  narrow  way, 
crucifixion,  lying  in  the  tomb,  rising  from  the  dead  —  called  ascen- 

48 


378  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

sion — day  of  judgment,  last  trumpet  sounding,  etc.  These  are 
separate  compartments  made  of  straw,  with  divisions  in  the  same 
style  and  materials ;  he  is  continually,  when  not  interrupted  by  com 
pany,  at  work  in  making  small  works  of  flowers,  rings  in  imitation 
of  large  seal  rings,  one  of  which  he  put  on  my  finger.  By  his 
ready  application  and  repeating  the  very  words  of  Scripture,  and 
the  places  where  they  are  to  be  found,  he  seems  to  have  got  the 
whole  Bible  by  heart ;  after  looking  into  my  hand,  he  referred  me 
to  sundry  texts,  some  of  which  I  confess  struck  me  with  astonish 
ment  and  confusion.  Though  not  more  than  fifty-five  years  of  age, 
he  is  so  totally  void  of  care  respecting  himself,  that  he  must  be  put 
to  bed  and  taken  out,  fed  with  meat  and  drink  like  an  infant ;  he 
will  not  bear  to  be  called  Mr.  nor  thanked  for -his  presents, — loves 
fruit,  and  will  accept  of  it,  but  not  money.  The  posture  he  receives 
his  visitors  in  is  sitting  within  his  little  straw  cell ;  looks  on  one 
only  when  he  takes  a  hand  to  examine,  and  if  he  likes  his  visitor, 
on  his  departure  seizes  the  hand  in  both  his  and  kisses  it  warmly, 
bidding  God  speed  in  Scripture  phrase. 

May  19.  Went  out  accompanied  by  Mr.  Pickman  to  Drury  Lane 
play-house  to  see  Mrs.  Siddons,  the  favorite  tragic  actress  of  the 
public,  in  the  character  of  Jane  Shore,  which  she  well  supported. 

May  22.  Informed  that  the  refugees',  or  as  they  affect  to  deno 
minate  themselves,  loyalists',  petition  to  Parliament  is  presented, 
and  supported  by  Lord  North  and  all  in  administration,  that  all 
who  have  pensions  may  receive  them  by  their  agents,  go  where 
they  will,  even  if  they  shall  return  to  either  of  the  United  States. 

June  15.  Joseph  Hooper  called  and  drank  tea ;  gave  him  a 
certificate  as  he  desired,  though  I  fancy  it  will  be  of  no  effect, 
respecting  his  property,  business,  and  manner  of  living  ;  of  which, 
as  I  know,  I  can  say  but  little. 

June  19.  Walked  to  White  Conduit  House,  to  see  a  great 
cricket  match  played  ;  Lords  Winchelsea,  Easton,  and  Strathaven, 
and  Sir  Peter  Burrill,  etc. ;  a  very  severe  headache  drove  me  off 
the  field. 

June  30.  Visited  the  artificial  flower-garden  at  Spring  Gar 
dens  ;  a  beautiful  imitation,  laid  out  in  walks,  containing  in  its 
borders  a  great  variety  of  the  most  curious  flowers  and  many  spe 
cies  of  wall  fruit,  with  birds  of  the  season  and  climate  placed  in 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  379 

natural  attitudes  on  the  boughs  in  good  preservation  ;  having  also 
a  small  piece  of  water,  with  a  jet  d'eau  in  the  centre,  and  a  swan 
floating  on  its  surface,  besides  a  stream  of  water  falling  down  a 
rugged  precipice  into  a  basin :  the  upper  part  of  the  sides  covered 
with  perspective  views,  which  enliven  the  room,  being  of  faint 
green  ground,  and  eighty  feet  by  fifty  and  twenty-five  high,  the  top 
almost  an  entire  skylight. 

July  9.  At  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Lords;  Mr.  Cooper,  a 
counsellor  at  law,  pleading  at  the  bar  in  a  case  wherein  the  distillers 
were  concerned ;  on  the  third  reading  of  bill,  Lord  Effingham 
rose  and  objected  to  various  clauses,  all  of  which  were  overruled, 
and  the  bill  passed.  A  message  from  the  Commons  was  received 
and  read.  In  the  former  case,  Lord  Effingham  called  the  first  lord 
of  the  treasury,  the  Duke  of  Portland,  who  rose,  and  to  my  seem 
ing  acquitted  himself  very  indifferently  ;  in  his  person  he  is  un- 
pleasirig  in  figure  and  countenance.  Lord  Effingham  had  the  ap 
pearance  both  in  person  and  dress  of  a  common  country  farmer  ;  a 
green  frock  coat,  with  brass  buttons,  his  hair  short,  straight,  and  to 
appearance  uncombed ;  his  face  rough,  vulgar  and  brown,  as  also 
his  hand ;  in  short  he  had  the  look  of  a  laboring  farmer  or  grazier- 
There  were  three  bishops  and  twenty-three  lay  lords  present :  re 
mained  there  two  hours. 

July  11.  At  the  bottom  of  Buckingham-street,  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  is  a  very  convenient  stone  alcove,  where  1  met  a  foreigner, 
who  proving  communicatively  inclined,  I  attended  for  near  an  hour 
to  his  relations ;  the  subject  being  the  small  degree  of  liberty  this 
country  enjoys  compared  with  the  states  of  Germany,  particularly 
the  king  of  Prussia's  dominions,  which  he  endeavored  to  exemplify 
from  that  monarch's  readily  redressing  all  acts  of  injustice  from  his 
courts,  or  from  the  oppressions  of  one  subject  to  another.  Another 
proof  was  the  burdensome  taxes  of  this  country,  to  which  the  Ger 
man  states  are  not  liable ;  the  demesnes  of  the  princes,  and  other 
sources,  furnishing  them  with  an  income  independent  of  taxes.  A 
third  was  the  exorbitant  fees  and  delays  of  justice  in  our  courts? 
which  are  just  causes  enough  for  complaint,  crying  aloud  for  re 
dress  ;  which,  alas!  there  is  but  little  reason  to  hope  for. 

July  12.     By  appointment,  dined  at  Mr.  De  Berdt's,  a  brother 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Joseph  Reed  of  Philadelphia ;    about  six  o'clock, 


380  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

departed  with  Mrs.  De  Berdt  in  her  chaise  for  their  country  house, 
in  Wormly  parish,  on  Sir  Abraham  Hume's  land  and  manor,  Herts  ; 
passing  through  Shoreditch  parish,  Kingsland,  Stoke  Newington, 
Tottenham,  High  Cross,  Edmonton,  Fender's  End,  Enfield,  Wal- 
tham  Cross,  Theobalds,  and  Cheshunt.  Mr.  De  Berdt  arrived  soon 
after  on  horseback. 

July  13,  Sunday.  Attended  worship  at  a  meeting-house  in 
Turnford  in  the  morning  ;  in  the  afternoon  at  the  parish  church, 
standing  on  Sir  Abraham's  ground,  who  is  the  presentee  thereof; 
a  miserable,  dark,  old,  forsaken  temple,  seemingly  in  a  state  of  dere 
liction,  though  its  revenues  are  far  from  contemptible,  amounting  to 
£200  and  more;  its  present  incumbent  is  a  D.  D.  Accompanied 
my  friends  to  the  christening  of  a  daughter  and  churching  of  the 
mother ;  after  service  partook  of  tea  and  christening  cake. 

July  14.  Set  off  through  Lord  Monson's  grounds  for  Mr. 
Hughes'  at  Hoddesdon  ;  arrived  in  an  hour,  and  passed  another  hour 
with  him ;  then  returned  and  rode  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  De  Berdt 
over  the  Lea  and  New  rivers  into  Essex,  along  the  meadows; 
leaving  there,  we  entered  a  rough,  lonesome  road  that  continued 
to  the  top  of  a  very  long  hill  of  quick  ascent.  On  the  summit 
stands  Roydon,  from  whence  forward  both  lands  and  road  had  a 
very  different  appearance ;  passed  Stansteadbury  church,  standing 
on  the  edge  of  the  eminence,  and  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  town 
or  any  house,  except  one  gentleman's  seat  in  its  neighborhood, 
overlooking  the  extensive  field  called  the  Ryehouse  field,  perhaps 
from  the  grain  of  that  kind  for  which  it  is  noted.  Descending  into 
the  plain,  stretching  for  a  mile  or  two  on  either  hand,  we  passed 
the  house  well  known  in  the  history  of  Charles  II.,  for  the  real  or 
imaginary  plot  against  government  laid  there ;  and  also  the  two 
rivers,  New  and  Lea,  running  scarce  more  than  ten  rods  asunder, 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  plain,  and  parallel  to  each  other  ; 
at  ten  o'clock  arrived  home. 

July  21.  Wrote  to  Thomas  Russell,  Esq.,  Boston,  and  intro 
duced  Mr.  Coap. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  381 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  SALEM,  N.  E. 

London,  July  26,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  raging  fever  of  the  times  will  doubtless  abate,  for  no  vio 
lent  fermentations  are  lasting,  but  not  perhaps  till  the  purposes  of 
raising  it  are  answered.  The  political  frenzy  of  your  country,  and 
the  peculiarly  critical  situation  of  American  refugees  here,  put  it 
out  of  my  power  to  be  decided  respecting  my  future  destination. 
However,  as  I  wrote  Mr.  Ward,  age  and  infirmities  have  made 
such  inroads  on  me,  as  render  of  little  importance  the  public  deci 
sions  here  or  there.  I  ardently  wish  and  pray  for  the  welfare  of 
both  countries ;  but  to  whisper  a  truth  in  your  ear,  I  should  not 
entertain  a  single  thought  of  crossing  the  Atlantic  at  my  advanced 
time  of  life,  even  under  the  pleasing  prospect  of  a  friendly  and 
kind  reception,  was  it  not  for  the  short  enjoyment  of  my  friends 
and  acquaintance ;  much  less  is  the  thought  pleasing  with  such 
prospects  as  must  present  themselves  to  those  misguided,  unfortunate 
persons,  who  retired  from  America  to  Europe  and  elsewhere  in  the 
beginning  and  during  the  late  troubles.  1  strongly  suspect  America 
will  not  find  such  a  cordial  and  unrestricted  liberty  from  the  Euro 
pean  powers  respecting  commerce  and  the  creation  of  a  powerful 
navy,  as  she  fondly  and  delusively  imagined.  Now  the  hurry  of 
war  is  over,  men's  minds  are  more  at  leisure  to  view  the  importance 
of  keeping  within  proper  bounds  the  new  rising  states  of  such 
vast  extent  of  sea  coast,  such  variety  of  soils,  such  capability  of  im 
proving  its  native  materials,  and  which,  if  suffered,  will  grow  to  a 
dangerous  height. 

Please  present  my  kind  respects  to  friends  and  acquaintance, 
and  believe  me 

Your  friend, 

S.  CCJRWEN. 

July  27.  To  the  Tower,  and  encompassing  it  once  round  on 
the  ramparts,  left  it,  and  passing  over  Little  Tower-hill,  joined  a 
company  attending  a  field  speaker  ;  one  in  the  outer  ring  proved 
boisterous  and  severe,  but  the  preacher  was  too  much  engaged  to 
attend  to  the  noise  that  disturbed  most  in  that  quarter. 


382  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

July  29.  Called  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mather ;  afterwards  William 
Vans  called ;  I  took  a  stroll  with  him  and  tea  at  Bagnigge  Wells ; 
thence  home  by  way  of  Peerless-pool  and  Moorfields. 

TO  GEORGE  RUSSELL,  ESQ.,  BIRMINGHAM. 

London,  July  20,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  kind  wishes  I  read  with  heartfelt  satisfaction,  for  I  meet 
with  very  few  who  profess  the  slightest  regard  ;  on  this  subject  I 
could  enlarge,  but  my  feelings  would  urge  to  a  style  prudence  for 
bids  me  to  use.  You  express  yourself  as  one  not  callous  to  impres 
sions  of  humanity,  as  interest  and  passion  render  too  many  ;  "  that 
when  the  horrors  of  war  cease,  there  should  end  all  animosities." 
I  wished  and  hoped  it  too,  but  with  what  success  the  world  too 
evidently  sees ;  not  a  single  expectation  of  mine  through  the  pro 
gress  of  this  baneful  war  but  has  ended  in  disappointment.  To 
keep  myself  from  all  future  mortifications,  I  am  determined  to  take 
no  further  part  or  concern  in  public  measures,  than  what  arises 
from  unavoidable  constraint  by  personal  interest ;  and  considering 
the  sour  aspect  of  American  politics  respecting  absentees,  I  cannot 
but  think  my  plan  an  obvious  dictate  of  wisdom.  Local  attach 
ment  having  lost  its  force  in  me,  and  so  averse  as  I  am  to  a  tedious 
voyage,  that  could  I  persuade  a  few  friends  that  it  was  not  for  want 
of  a  due  regard,  I  know  not  whether,  at  this  advanced  time  of  life, 
I  should  not  retire  to  some  quiet  village,  and  there  pass  in  undis 
turbed  ease,  unknowing  and  unknown,  the  short  portion  of  my 
remaining  days.  Perhaps,  at  your  time  of  life  it  is  hard  to  conceive 
the  propriety  of  the  foregoing  intimation;  but  you  will  remember 
old  age  blunts  the  passions  as  well  as  the  reason,  and  renders  rigid 
and  stiff  the  finer  fibres  of  the  brain,  those  vehicles  of  animal  spirit, 
by  means  of  which  impressions  of  all  kinds  are  less  frequent  and 
strong. 

You  very  justly  observe,  that  the  true  state  of  the  case  is  not 
always  to  be  known  from  newspaper  representation,  and  I  can  add, 
scarce  ever  even  when  public  instruments  are  pretendedly  copied. 
However,  in  the  present  case,  I  fancy  you  may,  without  injury 
to  truth,  believe  the  resolves  from  the  town  of  Worcester  to  be 
genuine  j  nor  less  those  very  curious  ones  from  the  New  Jerseys,  in 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  383 

the  Morning  Chronicle  of  the  26th  inst,  (if  I  have  not  mistaken  a 
day  or  two,)  wherein  you  will  see  the  predicament  of  us  poor  re 
fugees  in  the  opinion  of  our  late  fellow-subjects  ;  but  party  zeal  is 
blindness  as  well  as  madness.  Both  the  foregoing  as  well  as  others 
of  like  import,  I  have  seen  in  my  own  town  newspaper,  called  the 
Salem  Gazette,  nor  does  it  want  confirmation  from  verbal  testimony, 
and  a  multitude  of  letters  from  friends  and  foes  corroborate  the  same. 
Your  wish  and  expectation  that  the  present  delirium,  as  I  call  it,  will 
not  be  lasting,  is  common  ;  it  is  in  all  men's  mouths ;  its  con 
tinuance  will,  I  dare  say,  be  of  fatal  length  to  me,  as  well  as  in  its 
operation. 

To  show  on  what  footing  I  stood  before  the  news  of  peace  had 
intoxicated  them,  take  the  following  extracts.  In  one  letter,  dated 
2d  January  last,  from  a  worthy  friend  and  correspondent,  he  says : 
— "  It  is  the  general  desire  that  you  be  urged  to  return,  with  assur 
ances  that  you  will  be  joyfully  and  respectfully  received,  and  may 
reside  here  in  peace  and  safety."  Another  writes: — "Your  friends 
and  acquaintance  ardently  wish  for  your  return,  and  continuance 
among  us  in  peace  and  security  all  your  days." 

The  ship  Captain,  (Holton  Johnson  of  Lynn,)  with  whom  I 
came  from  America,  was,  by  a  revolution  common  at  such  periods, 
translated  into  a  legislator  in  our  Massachusetts  Assembly  ;  being 
about  two  months  since  in  London,  told  me  that  had  not  his  interest 
and  efforts  prevailed,  my  name  would  have  been  inserted  in  the 
banishment  list,  and  my  estate  confiscated.  The  reality  of  this  fact 
depends  on  the  relator's  veracity ;  the  reasons,  if  any,  must  be 
private  pique  and  malice ;  no  public  crime  was  ever  alleged,  but 
merely  leaving  the  country  in  her  distress.  If  success  is  justification, 
I  confess  guilt. 

A  subsequent  letter  of  12th  May,  says : — "  It  seems  clear  to 
your  best  friends  that  your  caution  was  not  groundless."  In  one 
of  June  5th: — "Since  plundering  and  privateering  have  declined 
the  reverend  Dr.  Whitaker  exerts  himself  on  the  wharves  as  well 
as  in  the  desk  against  the  return  of  Americans;  let  your  patience 
and  fortitude  continue  a  month  or  two  longer,  and  I  believe  that 
you  may  safely  leave  faction  and  party  rage  to  spend  their  utmost 
spite  without  harm."  In  one  of  14th  June,  from  the  same  :— 
"  Mrs.  P.  hath  been  at  Providence,  etc.,  and  finds  that  Rhode 


384  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

Island  and  Connecticut  are  surprised  at  the  conduct  of  Massa 
chusetts,  as  to  the  return  of  absentees  who  have  not  been  inimical 
to  America.  That  Mr.  Sparhawk  and  others,  who  went  thither 
from  New-York  and  other  places,  were  treated  with  great  humanity 
and  respect;  that  they  encourage  the  return  of  Americans.  These 
and  other  occurrences  considered,  I  doubt  not  of  seeing  an  alter 
ation  of  measures  before  the  end  of  the  present  session  of  the 
Assembly ;  I  trust  we  shall  not  long  continue  to  drive  our  own 
people  into  other  states." 

The  Dr.  Whitaker  before  mentioned,  of  Salem,  is  a  notorious 
character  in  America,  and  not  unknown  here,  whose  employment 
some  years  ago  was  that  of  an  itinerant  preacher,  leading  about  a 
tawny  native  of  America  for  people  to  look  at,  and  hear  his  preach 
ment  ;  he  was  also  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  the  more  profitable 
pursuit  of  soliciting  charity  for  the  establishment  of  an  Indian  col 
lege  in  the  frontier  wilderness  of  my  country.  He  is  usually  called 
Dr.  Meroz  in  America,  from  his  constantly  applying  the  23d  verse 
of  the  5th  chapter  of  Judges  to  the  poor  refugees. 

I  am  far  from  wishing  ill  to  the  cause  of  liberty 5  much  less  to  that 
of  my  native  country,  to  which  on  the  contrary,  as  a  citizen  of  the 
world  and  a  friend  to  the  inalienable  rights  of  mankind,  I  wish  every 
kind  of  good,  but  am  equally  far  from  thinking  America  has  gained 
its  delusively  fancied  prize  by  independence.  By  some  congress 
ional  manoeuvres  of  late,  a  train  I  fear  is  laid  for  the  establishment 
of  a  power  much  more  fatal  to  liberty  than  Great  Britain  durst  have 
aimed  at,  whilst  she  could  have  retained  any  governmental  autho 
rity  there.  Their  liberation  is  a  doubtful  proof  of  the  divine  ap 
probation  of  their  cause.  Many  there  thirsted  after  it,  and  so  did 
the  Israelites  for  a  king,  which  God  at  length  gave  them,  in  his 
anger  :  and  he  has,  I  fear,  given  them  their  heart's  desire  by  way  of 
punishment  for  wantoning  away  those  singularly  great  advantages 
of  a  civil,  religious  and  political  nature,  with  which  he  had  favored 
them  above  all  people  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  They 
often  were  used  to  compare  themselves  to  God's  highly  favored  peo 
ple,  and  I  truly  think  their  case  is  not  unlike  ;  mercies  and  preserva 
tions  as  numerous,  nor  does  their  folly  and  ingratitude  fail  to  finish 
the  comparison.  If  any  expressions  here  are  not  altogether  of  the 
complexion  of  your  own  notions,  I  know  your  candor  will  make 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  385 

allowances  for  the  difference  of  our  situation,  though  I  amnot  aware 
of  an  unfriendly  bias  in  iny  mind. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

August  6.  At  New  England  Coffee-house  to  read  the  papers, 
filled  with  relations  of  the  rising  spirit  of  Americans  against  the 
refugees,  in  their  towns  and  assemblies.  Intoxicated  by  success, 
under  no  fear  of  punishment,  they  give  an  unrestrained  loose  to 
their  angry,  malevolent  passions,  attribute  to  the  worst  of  causes 
the  opposition  to  their  licentious,  mobbish  violation  of  all  laws,  hu 
man  and  divine ;  and  even  some  of  the  best  of  the  republican  party 
seem  to  think,  at  least  their  practice  squints  that  way,  that  the  sup 
posed  goodness  of  their  cause  will  justify  murder,  rapine,  and  the 
worst  of  crimes.  But  cool  impartial  posterity  will  pass  a  better 
judgment,  and  account  for  the  violences  of  the  times  from  party  rage, 
which  knows  no  bounds. 

TO  MR.  JOHN  TIMMINS,  WOLVERHAMPTON. 

London,  August  9,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR: 

By  the  newspapers  from  America,  particularly  our  quarter,  I 
find  there  remain  but  slender  grounds  of  hope  for  success  in  at 
tempting  the  recovery  of  debts  or  estates;  a  general  shipwreck  is 
seemingly  intended  of  all  absentees'  property — the  towns  in  their  in 
structions  to  the  representatives  making  it  a  point  to  prevent  the 
return  of  them,  and  consequent  confiscation  of  all  their  property, 
notwithstanding  the  provision  in  the  fifth  preliminary  article.  These 
lawless  people  regard  not  any  obstacle  when  the  gratification  of  their 
angry  passions  or  the  object  of  gain  is  in  view  ; — some  of  their  re 
solves  perhaps  you  may  have  seen.  I  yesterday  read  in  a  Boston 
Gazette,  published  (in  June)  by  Edes,  the  well  known  sedition- 
trumpeter,  the  following  copied  out  for  your  view  from  the  resolves 
of  the  town  of  Lexington,  of  the  same  complexion  with  the  rest  of 
their  town  meeting  measures :  "Common  sense  and  the  laws  of  nature 
and  nations  concur  to  pronounce  them  one  and  all  aliens  from  the 
commonwealth.  As  to  the  idea  of  admitting  some  and  rejecting  oth 
ers,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  wisdom  of  angels  would  be  puzzled  to 

49 


386  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS,  [1783. 

draw  a  line — to  determine  when  or  where  to  stop.  Upon  the  whole 
we  cannot  but  think  it  indispensably  necessary  for  the  peace  and 
welfare  of  this  state,  and  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  the  United 
States,  that  a  decided  part  be  taken  to  prevent  the  return  and  the 
recovery  of  their  estates,  and  property  that  was  formerly  theirs."- 
Though  in  this  you  see  the  temper  is  unfriendly  and  adverse,  the 
language  is  decent.  From  a  paragraph  of  to-day's  paper  is  the  fol 
lowing  :  t(  Letters  by  an  American  vessel  yesterday  from  Boston 
brought  certain  information  of  a  very  unfavorable  nature  to  the 
loyalists,  whose  situation  is  extremely  precarious,  and  no  step  is 
likely  to  be  taken  for  their  relief."  The  same  letters  add,  that 
"  several  parts  of  the  country  are  in  a  state  of  convulsion,  in  a  strug 
gle  to  get  repossessed  of  estates  seized  by  individuals  during  the 
troubles."  Sitting  by  Frederick  Geyer  in  the  N.  E,  Coffee-house,  he 
said  that  John  Amory  had  written  him  that  he  was  made  to  hope  by 
his  friends  for  a  readrnission  into  Boston,  having  already  been  per 
mitted  to  have  a  sight  of  his  children,  &c.  He  had  received  letters 
by  Callahan  from  Boston,  by  whom  thirteen  passengers  have  just 
arrived ;  among  them  are  Leonard  Jarvis,  Samuel  Eliot,  and  a  Mr, 
Seaver. 

I  suppose  you  have  heard  of  Capt.  Smith's  treatment  at  Phila 
delphia.  Such,  however,  is  the  course  of  human  affairs,  and  it  may 
be,  for  aught  I  know  of,  consummate  wisdom  and  a  just  retribution 
of  rewards  and  punishments ;  for  I  am  far  from  thinking  there  is 
such  a  very  great  disproportion  of  happiness  here  below  among 
individuals,  as  is  the  common  opinion,  or  that  external  circumstan 
ces  are  of  any  weight  in  the  question  of  the  quantity  of  human 
happiness  of  each  one  individual  compared  to  another.  In  a  little 
space  of  time  I  shall  be  dead  to  a  sense  of  all  these  puzzling 
events ;  it  may  be,  shall  see  the  reasonableness  and  equity  of  the 
providential  government  in  a  clear  and  satisfactory  light. 

Heartily  wishing  you  health,  success,  competency  and  content 
ment,  I  am,  with  cordial  esteem, 

Your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Jlug.  12.  P.  S. — The  London  Evening  Chronicle  of  this  day 
contains  a  sensible  and  excellent  circular  letter  from  General 
Washington  to  the  several  state  governors;  the  forementioned  di- 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  387 

reeled  to  Governor  Greene,  of  Rhode  Island.  If  you  have  not  seen 
it,  the  liberality  of  that  government  absolves  this  from  all  imputa 
tions  on  the  score  of  tolerating  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Canada — 
they  having  far  outgone  these  by  admitting  persons  of  all  faiths  as 
well  as  none  to  a  full  participation,  not  only  of  the  liberty  of  living 
and  exercising  their  religion  among  them,  but  to  all  the  immunities, 
rights,  privileges,  emoluments,  and  honors  of  the  state.  This  is,  I 
confess,  carrying  toleration  to  the  very  largest  extent.  S.  C. 

TO  RICHARD  WARD,  ESQ.,  SALEM. 

London,  August  11,  1783. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  refer  you  to  my  letter  by  Mr.  Conant  for  an  explicit  answer 
to  your  question,  "  Do  you  propose  to  spend  the  remainder  of  your 
days  abroad  ?"  though  I  do  not  think  my  expression,  "  The  wished 
for  period  of  my  return  is  not  arrived,"  carried  any  doubts  of  what 
were  my  intentions.  With  regard  to  that  event,  you  best  can  tell 
whether  I  or  any  exile  from  America,  whatever  our  wishes  may 
be,  shall  ever  be  suffered  to  make  an  attempt ;  a  subject  I  consider 
with  some  indifference,  age  and  infirmities  having  made  such  in 
roads  on  my  constitution  as  leave  me  but  little  to  hope  or  fear  from 
the  result  of  public  councils  or  the  imprudence  of  private  conduct. 
So  far,  however,  am  I  from  indifference  to  the  real  welfare  of 
America,  that  I  ardently  wish  moderate  counsels  may  prevail,  for  it 
is  the  universal  opinion  that  her  credit  and  interest  will  be  essen 
tially  hurt,  should  an  illiberal,  impolitic  exclusion  of  all  absentees 
take  place.  I  am  free  to  declare  my  apprehension  that  the  lower, 
illiterate  classes,  narrow-minded  and  illiberal  all  over  the  world, 
have  too  much  influence,  and  that  political  and  civil  events  bear 
some  proportion  to  the  wisdom  of  public  councils ;  not  always,  as 
instances  of  a  contrary  kind  may  be  adduced  through  a  succession 
of  many  ages  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

Please  to  acquaint  the  "  Social  Library"  company,  whatever 
occasions  they  may  have  for  a  supply  from  hence,  they  shall  be 
freely  welcome  to  my  services.  With  best  love  to  my  niece  and 
your  children, 

I  am  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 


388  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

Aug.  17.  Attended  public  worship  at  St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate. 
The  number  of  youthful  voices  accompanying  the  organ  rendered 
that  part  of  the  service  pleasing  and  devout.  After  service 
walked  to  the  altar  to  see  the  funeral  monument  of  a  woman 
rising  out  of  a  coffin ;  the  inscription  too  high  for  me  to  read,  but 
said  to  perpetuate  the  extraordinary  event  of  a  woman  of  this 
parish  being  brought  to  life  after  interment,  by  the  sexton's  de 
scending  into  the  vault  to  cut  off  from  her  fingers  some  rings, 
which  by  swelling  could  not  otherwise  be  recovered.  Report  adds, 
that  raising  herself  in  the  coffin,  she  quitted  it  and  followed  the 
sexton  out  of  the  church,  and  proceeded  homewards,  and  arriving 
there  at  midnight  and  knocking  hard  at  the  door,  awakened  the 
maid,  who  went  trembling  to  her  master,  saying  she  was  sure  the 
knock  was  that  of  her  mistress ;  on  going  down  and  opening  the 
door,  to  their  astonishment  found  it  to  be  her  mistress  indeed. 
Report  further  adds,  that  this  same  woman  lived  to  have  seven  or 
eight  children.  On  asking  the  female  pew-opener,  she  replied : 
"  That  is  the  report,  but  having  been  but  a  late  parishioner,  she 
could  not  say,  but  some  thought  it  meant  to  denote  the  resurrection 
of  the  body."  Below  is  the  bust  of  the  famous  martyrologist 
"  Johannes  Foxus"  put  up  by  his  son  Samuel  about  1590. 

Aug.  31.  Attended  worship  at  the  church  of  St.  Austin  and 
St  Faith  the  Virgin,  united  parishes  close  under  St.  Paul's,  and 
the  latter  so  called  as  1  was  informed  on  inquiry  at  St.  Paul's  of 
the  verger;  he  further  said  that  it  was  in  the  gift  of  the  dean  and 
chapter.  A  Mr.  Ryder,  author  of  a  history  of  England,  preached 
an  ingenious  and  entertaining  discourse.  Afternoon  at  the  Magda 
len,  where  heard  an  excellent,  pathetic,  and  finely  adapted  address 
to  the  tenants  by  Mr.  Sellon,  minister  of  Clerkenwell,  one  of  the 
justly  celebrated  preachers  of  the  day. 

Sept.  3.  Mr.  Foster,  the  late  appointed  clerk  to  commissioners 
for  examining  loyalists,  advertises  to-day  for  them  to  bring  in  an 
estimate  of  their  estates,  effects,  losses,  etc.,  to  him  at  his  chambers, 
Middle  Temple,  before  the  29th  inst. 

Sept.  19.  Yesterday  evening  received  a  note  from  Mr.  De  Berdt, 
inviting  me  to  accompany  Mrs.  D.  to  his  country  house  at  Brox- 
burn  Herts  to  pass  a  few  days  during  his  absence  in  Wiltshire, 
where,  after  three  hours,  we  arrived  in  Mrs.  D.'s  chaise  before  tea. 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  389 

Sept.  23.  At  twelve  o'clock  set  off  with  Mrs.  D.  for  Ware, 
through  Hoddesdon,  Ryefields,  Stansfield,  Mardock  Mill,  the  late 
residence  of  Mr.  De  Berdt. 

Sept.  25.  To  Hoddesdon ;  meeting  Mr.  James  Inman  and 
another  gentleman,  accompanied  the  former  home. 

Sept.  26.  Proceeded  with  Mrs.  De  Berdt  Londonwards,  meeting 
and  overtaking  multitudes  in  carriages  and  on  foot,  bound  to  the 
Waltham  Abbey-statute  for  servants — a  day  established  by  act  of 
Parliament,  following  the  last  day  of  Fairs,  for  hiring  servants. 
The  males  appear  with  the  tools  or  insignia  of  their  respective  em 
ployments;  the  females  of  the  domestic  kind  are  distinguished  by 
their  aprons,  viz.,  cooks  in  colored,  nursery-maids  in  white  linen, 
and  the  chamber  and  waiting-maids  in  lawn  or  cambric.  Here 
resort  all  who  want  to  go  into,  or  are  out  of  service,  as  well  as 
those  families  who  stand  in  need  of  servants.  After  a  few  delays 
and  the  interval  of  three  hours,  arrived  in  London,  passing  through 
Clapton  and  Hackney,  deviating  from  the  usual  road  for  variety 
sake. 

Sept.  29.  Visited  Mrs.  Hay ;  first  time  since  her  return  from 
Scotland.  At  New  England  Coffee-house,  saw  a  number  of  young 
Massachusetts  men  bound  home  in  Callahan,  gone  down  the  river. 
In  Oxford-street,  called  at  Mr.  Danforth's  and  S.  Porter's;  both 
absent. 

Oct.  4.  At  ten  o'clock,  set  off  with  Mr.  D.  in  a  post-chaise  for 
Lord  Tylney's  seat,  Epping  Forest ;  conducted  through  the  rooms 
and  from  them  to  the  grotto,  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  most 
pleasing  and  elegant  I  ever  saw  ;  though  Goldney's  at  Clevedon 
is  by  some  esteemed  before  this ;  and  which,  perhaps,  in  the  rich 
ness  of  some  of  its  spars  may  exceed. 

Oct.  6.  This  day  was  proclaimed  peace  with  France,  Spain, 
and  Holland,  with  the  usual  formalities,  at  Palace,  Charing 
Cross,  Cheapside  Conduit,  and  the  Royal  Exchange;  had  a  sight 
of  the  procession  in  Pall  Mall,  but  the  crowds  disappointed  me 
from  hearing  the  proclamation,  or  seeing  the  ceremony  of  admis 
sion  through  Temple-bar  into  the  city. 

Oct.  8.  At  New  England  Coffee-house  in  company  with  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Gorham,  lately  arrived  from  Boston,  whom  I  had  well 
known.  He  is  a  native  of  Charlestown,  late  a  member  of  Congress, 


390  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

and  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  and  who  is  now  here  on  the 
score  of  obtaining  a  benevolence  for  the  sufferers  at  the  destruction 
of  that  town,  June  17,  1775,  by  the  king's  troops;  which,  all  things 
considered,  carries  with  it  such  a  face  of  effrontery  as  is  not  to  be 
matched.  Invited  him  to  tea ;  received  a  letter  from  my  wife's 
brother,  James  Russell. 

TO  HON.  JAMES  RUSSELL,  LINCOLN,  MASS. 

London,  Oct.  8,  1783. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  thank  you  for  your  favor  of  the  21st  August,  the  first  from 
you  since  my  unhappy  abandoning  my  former  home  in  April,  '75. 
You  write,  "  I  give  you  joy  on  the  return  of  peace ;"  as  far  as  it 
shall  be  productive  of  real  good  to  the  parties  concerned,  it  has  my 
approbation ;  respecting  myself  it  is  an  event  of  the  smallest 
moment,  were  the  appearances  in  your  quarter  ever  so  bright  and 
pleasing ;  how  much  less  when  the  thirteen  late  peaceable  happy 
colonies  are  reduced  to  the  licentious  and  gloomy  condition  wherein 
they  now  are,  if  general  report  may  be  depended  on.  In  truth, 
were  your  sister*  no  more,  there  would  need  no  act  of  Massachusetts 
or  any  other  assembly,  or  senate,  to  prohibit  my  return.  So  far  as 
to  America  and  myself;  now  to  another  point,  that  of  interest. 
After  I  had  written  to  your  son  Thomas  of  Boston  on  the  subject, 
I  had  heard  of  the  sale  of  your  late  son  Charles's  estate  at  Lincoln 
to  your  son  Chambers ;  I  will  presume  you  did  not  forget  my 
demand  of  .£300  sterling,  and  somewhat  more  for  his  bond  to  me, 
though  your  silence  respecting  it  has  since  raised  my  apprehension. 
Mr.  Thomas  Russell  will  address  you  on  this  subject,  and  I  trust 
sufficient  will  be  received  to  remunerate  him  for  monies  obtained 
on  his  credit  by  me  for  my  support  soon  after  my  arrival  here. 
Wishing  you  and  your  family  every  good, 
I  remain,  my  dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

S.  CURWEN. 

Oct.  9.     Received  a  note  from  Mr.  De  Berdt,  inviting  me  to 
dinner  on  Friday  with  Mr.  Gorham  and  Mr.  Barrett  of  Boston. 

*  Mrs.  Curwen. 


1783.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  391 

Oct.  25.  Accompanied  Mr.  Gorham  to  House  of  Commons 
and  Westminster  Abbey. 

Oct.  28.  Saw  Captain  Nathaniel  West  and  Captain  Smith  for 
the  first  time ;  received  information  from  the  former  that  his  brother 
Eben  was  living,  (whom  I  feared  was  dead,)  and  about  to  return 
to  Salem. 

Oct.  29.  Mr.  J.  Fletcher  drank  tea  with  me,  and  related  in 
detail  his  misfortunes,  present  condition  and  views. 

TO  MRS.  ABIGAIL  CURWEN,  SALEM. 

London,  Oct.  30,  1783. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

•  The  peace,  or  rather  acknowledged  dismemberment  of  the  late 
English  colonies  from  their  mother  country,  has,  it  seems,  been  so 
far  from  affording  a  prospect  to  such  of  the  American  absentees 
who  might  be  willing  to  return  back,  that,  on  the  contrary,  from 
what  appears,  the  present  governing  party  are  determined  to  pass 
bills  of  final  exclusion  of  all  such  as  left  their  country  after  the 
troubles  commenced.  If  their  government  is  in  the  hands  of  what 
their  great  and  good  allies  call  the  "  mesne  peuple"  which  two 
short  words  you  have  Anglo-Gallic  friends  enough  among  you  to 
translate,  no  liberal  public  measures  are  to  be  expected.  If  it  was 
not  for  your  sake,  or  that  you  would  follow  my  fortune  or  accom 
pany  my  fate,  I  should  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  taking  up  my 
future  abode,  which  cannot  possibly  be  but  of  short  continuance, 
somewhere  out  of  the  limits  of  the  republican  government.  "  The 
world,"  as  Adam  said  on  his  expulsion  from  paradise,  "  is  all 
before  me,  where  to  choose  my  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  my 
guide."  By  this  you  see,  I  have  not  fixed  my  views ;  nor  can  I, 
prudently,  till  your  government  shall  have  come  to  a  final  deter 
mination  respecting  your  runaways,  or,  as  they  affect  to  call  them 
selves  by  the  pompous  character  of  loyalists  ;  which,  however,  does 
them  no  more  credit  here  than  with  you.  Wishes  for  the  welfare 
of  my  friends  still  warm  my  heart ;  as  to  the  rest,  I  read  with  cold 
indifference  the  insurrections  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  carryings-on 
in  the  late  English  colonies,  having  lost  local  attachment. 

If  your  fortitude  has  increased  in  the  proportion  that  your 
health  and  spirits  have  improved,  perhaps  you  will  not  find  it  an 


392  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1783. 

insurmountable  difficulty  to  resolve  on  a  land  tour  to  Canada,  or  a 
voyage  to  some  other  English  settlement.  Whatever  shall  be  the 
result  of  your  thoughts,  let  me  be  made  acquainted  therewith  as 
soon  as  convenient.  Should  a  final  expulsion  be  concluded  on, 
you  will  no  longer  hesitate. 

Mr.  Jay  and  John  Adams  are  here,  and  if  administration  was 
kindly  affected  towards  American  sufferers,  perhaps  some  good 
might  arise  ;  though  for  my  own  particular  case,  I  have  no  favor 
able  opinion  of  the  gratitude,  or  even  justice,  of  kings  or  courts ; 
nor  of  the  friendly  regards  of  the  two  forementioned  Americans 
towards  us  in  the  unhappy  predicament  of  petitioners  for  the  bounty, 
not  to  say  justice,  of  the  court ;  from  the  latter,  [Adams,]  it  is  cur 
rently  said  and  believed,  harsh  declarations  have  fallen  here  as  well 
as  in  Holland  and  France  respecting  us,  nor  has  he  probably 
changed  his  mind.  The  ancients  say,  "Qui  trans  mare  currunt, 
ccelum  non  animum  mutant.3'* 

Of  a  different  complexion  and  temper  is  Mr.  Nathaniel  Gorhain, 
with  whom  I  have  had  several  interviews;  he  is  moderate,  reason 
able,  and  conciliatory  ;  would  that  his  views  prevailed  among  his 
countrymen.  He  has  just  informed  me  that  on  the  4th  proximo, 
agreeably  to  Charles  J.  Fox's  appointment,  he  was  going  to  wait 
upon  Lord  Keppel ;  if  a  member  of  the  American  Continental 
Congress  can  lower  himself  to  use  the  derogatory  term  of  waiting 
on  the  first  lord  of  the  English  admiralty. 

Yours,  in  all  affection, 

S.  CURWEN. 

JVbv.  5.  Last  night  a  very  destructive  fire  consumed  many 
houses,  upwards  of  forty,  between  Aldersgate,  Bartholomew  Close, 
and  Cloth  Fair,  supposed  the  most  extensive  in  London  for  many 
years ;  the  fire  yet  unextinguished  j  no  account  yet  given  of  the 
damage,  loss,  etc. 

Nov.  24.  At  the  American  commissioner's  office,  late  Duke 
of  Newcastle's  house,  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields,  for  directions  respecting 
a  memorial. 

JVbv.  25.     Attended  among  the  rest  of  expectants  to  have  a 

*  Those  who  cross  the  seas,  change  their  abode  but  not  their  minds.1' 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  393 

sight  of  the  air-balloon  discharged  from  the  Artillery-ground,  at  one 
o'clock ;  it  rose  moderately,  and  in  a  southerly  direction  ;  was  in 
sight  ten  or  twelve  minutes ;  its  appearance  to  my  eye,  after  it 
diminished  to  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  was  like  three  round 
balls  in  contact,  in  shape  of  a  triangular  body  with  obtuse  angles. 
I  should  think  the  numbers  in  Moorfields  exceeded  fourscore  thou 
sand.  The  sight  was  amusing  ;  perhaps  posterity  may  improve  on 
this  newly  investigated  subject,  and  make  what  is  now  only  a 
pleasing  show,  a  commodious,  perhaps  pernicious,  aerial  convey 
ance. 

JVbv.  28.  Capt.  Carpenter,  of  Salem,  called  ;  he  is  just  from 
Lisbon. 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ. 

London,  Mm.  28,  1783. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

However  unfavorable  to  my  wishes  the  result  of  the  American 
Assemblies  may  be,  I  shall  be  gratified  by  receiving  the  earliest 
advices.  Capt.  Nathaniel  West  brings  me  a  message  from  the 
principal  merchants  and  citizens  of  Salem,  proposing  and  encour 
aging  my  return;  which  instance  of  moderation  I  view  as  an  honor 
to  the  town  and  respectful  to  myself,  and  I  wish  to  return  my 
thanks  through  you.  It  affords  me  pleasure,  and  I  would  cheer 
fully  accept  the  offer ;  but  should  the  popular  dislike  rise  against 
me,  especially  if  co-operating  with  governmental  resolves,  to  what 
a  plight  should  I  be  reduced,  being  at  present  (but  for  how  long 
is  a  painful  uncertainty)  on  the  British  government  list  for  £100 
a  year,  (a  competency  for  a  single  person  exercising  strict  economy,) 
to  surrender  this  precarious  allowance  without  public  assurances 
of  personal  security. 

It  would  be  little  short  of  madness,  should  the  popular  rage  com 
bine  with  the  public  decisions  to  prevent  our  future  residence ;  de 
prived  of  all  assistance,  and  even  the  last  refuge  of  the  wretched, 
hope  here,  expelled  there.  Imagine  to  yourself  the  distress  of  an 
old  man,  without  health,  under  such  adverse  circumstances,  and 
you  will  advise  me  to  wait  with  resignation  till  the  several  Assem 
blies  shall  have  taken  decisive  measures  on  congressional  recom 
mendation,  agreeably  to  the  provisional  treaty,  if  that  body  shall 

50 


394  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1783. 

deem  it  prudent  to  conform  to  what  their  commissioners  have  agreed 
to.  But  ei  ough  of  this.  One  of  your  Massachusetts  public  min 
isters,  Mr.  John  Adams,  is  here  in  all  the  pride  of  American  inde 
pendence;  by  Mr.  Gorham  I  am  told  he  uttered  to  him  the  follow 
ing  speech,  that  "  together  with  the  war  he  had  buried  all  animosity 
against  the  absentees."  Though  he  is  of  a  rigid  temper,  and  a 
thorough-paced  republican,  candor  obliges  me  to  give  him  credit 
for  the  humanity  of  the  sentiment,  being  spoken  in  private,  and  to 
one  of  his  own  party,  and  probably  without  an  intention  to  be  pub 
lished  abroad.  In  a  conversation  with  my  informant,  he  further 
replied,  that  he  chose  to  consider  himself  as  a  plain  American 
republican ;  his  garb  plain,  without  a  sword,  which  is  carrying  his 
transatlantic  ideas,  I  fear,  a  little  too  far.  Should  he  have  the  cu 
riosity,  or  his  public  character  render  it  expedient,  to  attend  at  a 
royal  levee,  or  at  a  drawing-room  at  St.  James's  on  a  court  day,  I 
hope  he  will  not  deserve  and  meet  with  as  mortifying  a  repulse  as 
our  late  chancellor,  Lord  Thurlow,  at  the  court  of  Versailles ;  whose 
surly  pertinacity  in  wearing  a  bob-wig  occasioned  his  being  re 
fused  admittance  into  the  king's  presence.  However  frivolous  a 
part  of  dress  soever  a  sword  may  appear  to  one  of  Mr.  Adams's 
scholar-like  turn,  he  is  by  this  time,  I  fancy,  too  well  acquainted 
with  the  etiquette  of  courts  to  neglect  so  necessary  an  appendage, 
without  which  no  one  can  find  admittance  out  of  the  clerical  line. 
I  have  nothing  further  to  add  but  my  ardent  wishes  for  an  in 
crease  of  the  health  and  happiness  of  yourself  and  family ;  for  I 
am  very  truly, 

Your  friend, 

S.    CURWEN. 

JVbw.  30.  Attended  worship  at  the  chapel  in  Margaret-street, 
Cavendish-square,  where  Mr.  Ford,  from  Liverpool,  officiated,  using 
the  liturgy  appointed  for  the  dissenters  on  the  plan  of  preconceived 
forms  in  that  place ;  it  being  the  first  use  of  it  in  London. 

Dec.  2.     Mr.  Gorham  passed  three  hours  with  me. 

Dec.  5.  Evening  at  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  to  see  old  Mack- 
lin  in  the  characters  of  Shylock  in  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  and  in 
Sir  Archy  McSarcasm  in  Marriage  a  la  Mode,  a  farce  of  his  own 
writing ;  in  both  he  excels,  and  although  more  than  fourscore  years 


1783.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  395 

of  age  manifests  an  exertion  that  would  credit  even  youth.  The 
house  crowded ;  the  character  of  Portia,  in  the  former,  performed 
by  a  Miss  Roscoe,  her  first  appearance. 

Dec.  18.  Yesterday  Charles  J.  Fox's  famous  East  India  bill  was 
on  a  second  reading  thrown  out  of  the  House  of  Lords,  by  a  ma 
jority  of  nineteen,  the  vote  being  seventy-eight  in  favor,  and  ninety- 
seven  against  it.  The  Prince  of  Wales  in  the  minority,  being  his 
first  vote  as  one  of  that  house. 

Dec.  20.  House  of  Commons  in  an  uproar,  occasioned  by  a 
supposed  design  to  dissolve  them  and  form  a  new  arrangement  of 
administration  ;  the  members  of  which,  one  of  the  papers  has,  as 
usual  in  extraordinary  cases,  presented  the  public  with. 

Dec.  28.  Attended  public  worship  at  Essex  House  chapel. 
Mr.  Lindsay  preached  from — "  For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly 
house  of  this  our  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of 
God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens ;  for  in 
this  we  groan  earnestly,  desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house 
which  is  in  heaven.  If  so  be  that  being  clothed,  we  shall  not  be 
found  naked."  A  text  and  discourse  not  unsuited  to  my  particular 
situation,  this  day  completing  my  sixty- eighth  year,  and  in  a  dis 
consolate  condition,  laboring  under  bodily  infirmities,  dreadful  un 
certainties  respecting  my  temporal  supplies,  and  but  too  conscious 
of  many  more  imperfections  and  follies,  moral  and  natural ;  how 
ever  doubtful  what  may  be  the  consequence  of  a  separation  of  soul 
and  body,  I  most  ardently  long  for  a  deliverance  from  personal 
evils,  and  a  retreat  to  that  state  of  quietude  where  the  weary  are  at 
rest. 

Dec.  31.  Visited  Mr.  De  Berdt  by  invitation  ;  from  thence  to 
Capt.  Hay's,  and  engaged  to  dine  there  next  Friday. 

This  concludes  a  most  unpleasing,  unprofitable  year,  meaning 
in  such  a  sense  as  diofnifies  the  rational  nature  of  mortal  men. 

o 

May  the  following  year  be  productive  of  better  moral  effects  than 
the  last. 


396  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

London,  Jan.  17,  1784.  At  New  England  Coffee-house,  recog 
nised  by  Col.  Tonge,  whom  at  first  sight  I  knew  not,  till  he  made 
himself  known. 

Jan.  24.  Last  night  Mr.  Pitt's  East  India  bill  lost  by  a  ma 
jority  of  eight;  probably  a  dissolution  of  Parliament  will  follow. 
A  wretched  plight  is  this  distracted  nation  in,  from  an  obstinate, 
despotically  inclined  king,  and  a  set  of  profligate,  unprincipled  men 
of  influence  and  politicians.  I  fear  there  is  not  sense  enough  left 
of  the  importance  of  public  interest  and  liberty  among  the  people, 
to  oppose  the  pernicious  designs  and  measures  of  court  and  Parlia 
ment,  and  that  the  people,  from  whose  efforts  alone  good  may  be 
expected,  however  unaided  by  nobles  or  gentry,  will  soon,  oppressed 
and  overloaded  by  taxes,  submit  to  any  measures  their  haughty  im 
perious  masters  shall  impose.  Thus  the  government,  once  the 
boast  of  Great  Britain  and  the  envy  of  the  world,  will  soon  find 
itself  on  a  level  with  the  most  contemptible  of  those  nations  on 
whom  it  justly  looked  with  pity,  and  imprudently  with  contempt. 
I  think  its  ruin  near  enough  for  my  old  age  to  have  the  cruel  mor 
tification  of  seeing,  brought  about  by  the  most  impolitic  and  foolish 
of  all  attempts,  the  late  American  war ;  and  in  the  short  space 
of  nine  years  fallen,  when  at  the  highest  pinnacle  of  power,  glory, 
and  wealth  it  had  ever  attained,  to  its  present  state  of  despair. 

Feb.  2.  Disturbed  by  disagreeable  dreams  from  whatever 
cause,  which,  however,  I  pretend  not  satisfactorily  to  account  for 
to  myself;  I  find  my  imagination  much  more  busily  employed  now 
than  in  my  youth. 

Feb.  3.  Joseph  Hooper  called  on  me  to  accompany  him  to  the 
American  Commissioner's  office  in  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields,  which  I  did, 
and  gave  a  relation  on  oath,  which  proved  my  unacquaintedness 
with  his  affairs  of  no  advantage  to  his  cause.  Afterwards  at  New 
England  Coffee-house,  reading  the  papers,  filled  with  melancholy 
accounts  of  the  party  squabbles  in  the  House  of  Commons  between 
Foxites  and  Pittites,  the  former  of  whom  have  got  a  majority  to 


1784.]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  397 

address  the  king  to  turn  out  the  latter  and  his  associates,  which  has 
produced  such  a  chagrin  in  the  king's  mind,  it  is  said,  as  has  deter 
mined  him  to  retire  to  Hanover,  and  leave  this  distracted  country 
under  the  government  of  guardians  of  the  realm,  of  which  his  son, 
the  Prince  of  Wales  will  be  first  in  the  commission. 

Feb.  9.  The  extreme  severity  of  the  weather  seems  to  ill-in 
fluence  the  tempers  of  the  state  managers,  whose  pertinacious 
obstinacy  forebodes,  by  their  struggles  in  the  House  of  Commons  and 
their  opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords,  to  bring  on  a  state  convul 
sion.  Should  healing  measures  not  soon  be  adopted,  and  the  meet 
ing  bill  run  out,  the  army  will  of  course  be  left  without  restraint, 
and  the  dogs  of  war  be  let  loose  j  the  consequence  all  have  rea 
son  to  dread,  none  fully  foresee. 

Feb.  13.  The  two  political  game-cocks,  Pitt  and  Fox,  are  at 
length  to  compromise,  and  the  public  business,  for  a  while  at  least, 
be  suffered  to  go  on,  which  during  the  contests  between  the  House 
of  Commons  on  the  one  side,  and  the  king  supported  by  the  House 
of  Lords  on  the  other,  has  stagnated,  to  the  great  reproach  of  the 
contenders,  and  injury  of  the  public  interest,  which,  however,  in 
this  period  of  venality  and  selfishness,  seems  to  be  a  consideration 
of  the  smallest  importance,  if  any  at  all. 

Feb.  17.  Received  several  letters  from  Salem,  encouraging  me 
to  hope  I  may  be  permitted  to  return  to  my  native  country. 

FROM  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ. 

Salem,  Jan.  2,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  made  inquiry  amongst  your  friends,  and  all  agree  that 
although  there  seems  to  be  no  prospect  of  a  repeal  of  the  laws 
against  absentees,  yet  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  the  committees, 
and  all  orders,  seem  very  desirous  of  your  returning  in  the  spring. 
As  Mr.  Cabot,  by  whom  I  shall  send  this,  is  urgent  for  it,  and  can 
inform  you  of  the  present  temper  and  disposition  of  the  people 
towards  you,  it  will  be  needless  for  me  to  give  you  particulars. 
Assurances  from  hence  as  to  security,  etc.,  while  the  laws  remain 
unrepealed,  we  cannot  give  you,  other  than  private  opinion  only. 
Mr.  Cabot  will  acquaint  you,  and,  by  what  Mr.  Vans  says,  you  will 
have  it  in  letters  from  several,  that  there  is  little  or  no  danger  of 


398  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

any  prosecutions  on  the  laws  but  from  the  respective  towns,  com 
mittees,  etc.,  where  the  absentee  belonged  ;  and  all  seem  to  agree 
there  can  be,  from  present  appearances,  no  danger  from  any  of  this 
town.  Mr.  Cabot  will  acquaint  you  as  to  the  successes  of  all  who 
have  returned  hither,  and  as  to  such  as  have  returned  to  other 
states.  At  Providence,  and  in  some  parts  of  Connecticut,  those  who 
returned  have  been  more  cordially  received  and  treated,  and  we 
hope  a  like  temper  will  take  place  in  Massachusetts  in  the  spring 
and  summer.  Alcock  evasit  et  abdicavit  with  bag  and  baggage, 
and  Whitaker  seems  to  be  hastening  after  him.  These  two  politi 
cians  seem  to  have  been  the  authors  and  promoters  of  more  mis 
chief  than  it  is  possible  that  any  two  who  are  left  behind  them 
either  should  or  would  effect,  or  even  attempt.  They  resembled 
Swift's  committee  of  ways  and  means  for  continuing  the  war  and 
promoting  malevolence  and  contention  as  long  as  possible  ;  but  at 
length  they  became  contemned  and  deserted  by  all,  and  I  cannot 
recollect  any  better  proof  or  assurance  you  can  have  than  the  fate 
of  these  two  persons  as  to  the  temper  of  the  people  of  this  town, 
and  as  to  their  disposition  for  peace  and  benevolence.  However, 
you  will  doubtless  attend  to  what  you  see  in  the  public  prints,  as 
the  resolves  of  assemblies  in  this  and  the  other  states,  and  judge  for 
yourself.  Mr.  Dana  has  returned  from  Russia,  and  if  you  return 
here,  during  his  continuance  among  us,  it  may  prove  a  fortunate 
circumstance  to  you,  as  I  have  heard  him  repeatedly  say  much  in 
favor  of  your  attachments,  connections,  etc. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  most  respectfully,  your  friend, 

WILLIAM  PYNCHON. 

Feb.  28.  Mr.  Pitt  by  invitation  in  the  city,  at  Grocer's  Hall, 
Cheapside ;  great  throngs  attended  ;  he  was  drawn  in  his  carnage 
by  men.  Returning  late  in  the  night,  he  was  assaulted,  and  his 
and  other  carriages  broken  to  pieces  by  men  armed  with  bludgeons ; 
supposed,  not  without  reason,  by  Fox's  party,  and  his  party's  en 
couragement — a  peevish,  ill-judged  resentment. 

March  7.  Met  Mr.  William  Walter,  late  from  Nova  Scotia, 
who  at  first  sight  recollected  me  and  spoke ;  my  eye  and  memory 
weakened  by  age,  and  his  features  somewhat  hardened,  I  could  not 
suddenly  recognize  him. 


1784]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  399 

March  16.  Met  my  friend  and  countryman  Mr.  Isaac  Smith, 
on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Boston  ;  took  him  home  to  tea,  but 
could  not  persuade  him  to  pass  the  evening,  being  before  engaged 
with  the  "  Dr.  Fran/din  Club"  at  London  Tavern. 

March  20.  Mr.  Pitt,  the  great  popular  minister,  because 
Charles  J.  Fox's  antagonist,  who  is  become  the  man  of  the  people, 
(as  Fox  and  his  supporters  arrogantly  assumed  to  be,  now  the  popu 
lar  odium,  on  account  of  his  East  India  bill,)  dined  this  day  at  the 
London  Tavern,  being  the  third  public  dinner  of  late  in  the  city  ; 
and  who  in  his  turn  will  probably,  before  the  expiration  of  many 
months,  be  as  much  condemned  and  hissed  as  he  is  now  caressed  and 
applauded — popular  breath  rarely  if  ever  long  keeps  one  direction. 
March  26.  Proclamation  issued  for  dissolving  Parliament,  this 
being  the  third  session,  the  House  of  Commons  proving  refractory 
and  unyielding  to  the  king's  measures  and  servants,  young  Pitt, 
Thurlow,  Gower,  etc.  The  great  seal  was  stolen  last  night  from 
Lord  Thurlow's,  Great  Ormond-street,  with  two  swords  and  thirty 
guineas. 

Jlpril  3.  Accompanied  my  friend  Mr.  Isaac  Smith  and  his 
brother  in  a  post-chaise  to  Gravesend,  the  former  being  bound  to 
Boston  in  the  ship  United  States.  Lodged  at  the  Falcon  inn. 

Jlpril  4.  Took  a  long  stroll  to  Milton  Abbey ;  saw  the  small 
remains  of  its  ruins, 

Jlpril  6.  The  poll  finished  at  Guildhall,  the  four  former  city 
members  re  chosen.  A  Mr.  Cooper,  owner  of  a  wine  vault,  stated 
at  my  lodgings  that  contested  elections  generally  consumed  six 
thousand  hogsheads  of  port  wine  extra,  and  that  twenty-four  thou 
sand  was  the  average  yearly  consumption  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire 
land. 

Jlpril  8.  Mr.  Alleyn,  at  Treasury,  stated  that  no  payment 
would  be  made  these  two  months  at  soonest,  for  the  public  embar 
rassments  will  greatly  delay  our  quarterly  payments. 

Jlpril  10.  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  De  Berdt's,  where  met  General 
Reed,  late  from  Philadelphia. 

Jlpril  14.  Visited  Col.  Willard  at  No.  81  Charlotte-street,  Port 
land-place,  to  inquire  about  government's  offer  to  convey  refugees 
inclined  to  reside  in  Nova  Scotia,  with  allowance  to  be  continued 
as  if  in  England. 


400  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 


il  30.  Walked  to  Limehouse  church  ;  returned  by  Stepney 
church-yard,  and  saw  therein  a  tomb  inclosed  within  iron  rails,  in 
form  of  a  coffin,  said  to  contain  the  remains  of  a  wife  buried  above 
ground  in  compliance  with  the  will  of  a  testator,  who  gave  the 
husband  an  estate  on  that  condition  :  he  is  depicted  on  a  glass  win 
dow  fronting  the  burial-ground  as  looking  out  at  her  tomb.  After 
wards,  at  New  England  Coffee-house,  met  Mr.  Cox,  who  asked  me 
to  tea  with  young  Smith  ;  which  I  accepted,  meeting  there  his 
father-in-law  and  Mr.  Jackson  of  Newburyport. 

May  2.  Attended  service  at  Limehouse  church  ;  Dr.  Watson, 
bishop  of  LlandafF,  preached  a  most  excellent  charity  sermon  to  a 
crowded  assembly.  Bidding  prayer  was  long,  catholic,  and  charm 
ingly  delivered  ;  concluding  sentence  was,  "  Now  to  the  King  eter 
nal"  etc.,  instead  of  the  usual  one,  "  Now  to  God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son"  etc.  His  enunciation  is  loud,  sonorous  and  manly,  his 
person  robust  and  tall. 

May  3.  Attended  the  scrutiny  in  aldermen's  room,  Guild 
hall,  between  Sawbridge  and  Atkinson,  a  case  decided  in  favor 
of  an  act  of  Parliament  against  city  right  of  aldermen's  consent  to 
the  removal  of  a  livery  man  from  ^ne  company  to  another,  with 
out  which  it  was  asserted  he  was  disqualified  to  vote  for  a  member 
of  Parliament,  although  of  the  livery  and  free. 

May  4.  Mr.  Danforth  met  me,  and  together  we  visited  Mrs. 
Hay  and  staid  till  eight  o'clock. 

FROM  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ. 

Salem,  March  2,  17j64. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

As  Messrs,  Sparhawk,  Bartlett  and  others  are  going  in  the 
Pilgrim,  it  will  be  needless  to  attempt  giving  you  a  particular  ac 
count  of  occurrences  here.  You  will  doubtless  hear  from  them  of 
the  alteration  in  the  temper  of  the  people  towards  absentees,  par 
ticularly  of  our  town.  Alcock's  going  off,  (or  absconding,)  with 
Dr.  Whitaker's  sinking  in  the  esteem  of  the  people,  even  at  the 
fish-market  and  brandy-shops,  has  produced  a  good  effect  ;  many 
show  their  disapprobation,  and  some  their  utter  detestation  of 
certain  intolerant  dispositions  and  persecuting  measures. 


1784.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  401 

I  said  nothing  about  our  Social  Library,  because  of  the  present 
state  of  our  finances  and  the  want  of  regular  meetings  of  the 
society.  Mr.  E.  Hasket  Derby  has  lately  imported  a  considerable 
library  of  modern  books,  which  proved  to  be  very  dear,  as  many 
think,  and  might  have  been  purchased  much  cheaper  by  you ; 
therefore  the  proprietors  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  your  advice 
and  assistance,  whether  you  shall  continue  in  England  or  return 
hither.  I  find  Mr.  D.  Oliver,  third  son  of  your  good  friend  Andrew 
Oliver,  Esq.,  goes  also  in  the  Pilgrim.  All  who  can  cross  the 
Atlantic  seem  determined  to  go  and  procure  their  goods  from  Eng 
land  ;  not  one  discovers  a  disposition  to  receive  them  from  France, 
notwithstanding  their  generosity  towards  us.  Going  to  England 
is  now  as  formerly  called  going  home. 

Many  of  our  politicians  seem  desirous  of  seeing  an  English 
ambassador  in  America  to  balance  the  increasing  interest  and 
influence  of  France,  whose  intrigues  perplex  and  alarm  us.  You 
doubtless  have  heard  of  Mr.  Dana's  return  from  the  court  of 
Russia  without  concluding  a  commercial  treaty  there :  he  is  now 
chosen  a  member  of  Congress,  and  is  soon  to  set  out,  warmly  en 
gaged  in  opposition  to  French  politics. 

I  have  advised  Mr.  Oliver  to  seek  you  out  and  inform  you  about 
us  all,  who  wish  and  expect  your  return  in  the  summer ;  as  he  is 
young,  and  a  stranger,  I  doubt  not  you  will  notice  him  and  render 
him  all  the  kind  offices  which  you  may  observe  him  to  need.  I 
have  desired  Mr.  Bartlet  to  advise  with  you  as  to  some  of  the 
latest  and  best  plays,  farces,  etc.,  which  we  wish  much  to  see. 

March  4.  The  Pilgrim  not  sailing  this  morning,  I  find  time  to 
recollect  an  omission  I  made  last  night.  Some  Americans  have 
lately  returned  via  Philadelphia  to  Boston,  among  them  William 
McNeal,  who  went  off  with  the  troops  from  thence,  and  E.  Wil 
liams,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  British  service  at  New-York,  and 
now  receives  half  pay.  McNeal,  by  means  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  was  taken  up  and  used  roughly  on  account  of  his  conduct, 
as  it  is  said,  during  the  blockade  at  Boston ;  but  W7illiams  met 
with  no  insult  or  obstruction  there  or  at  Salem,  but  is  gone  into  the 
country  to  settle  his  affairs  and  then  return  to  Nova  Scotia.  It  is 
true  he  did  not  choose  needlessly  to  go  to  the  parade,  or  insurance 
offices,  etc.,  but  went  about  Salem  visiting  his  particular  friends, 

51 


402  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1784, 

and  met  with  no  indecency  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere.  Many 
have  urged  me  heretofore  to  write,  that  you  might  return  and 
reside  here  without  the  least  danger  or  insult ;  but  while  such  as 
Alcock  and  Whitaker  had  the  lead,  I  could  not  think  nor  say  so. 
Now  I  may  safely  tell  you  what  I  have  heard  heretofore  in  the 
market-place,  from  some  that  are  most  desirous  now  for  your 
return  : — "  Oh,  let  them  return,  by  all  means  ;  but  they  must  re 
member,  that  they  are  to  down  on  their  knees  to  the  General 
Court  in  the  first  place,  to  the  committee  in  the  next,  and  to  their 
townsmen  too,  and  ask  pardon,  and  then  we  may  even  let  them 
stay  among  us,  provided  they  behave  as  they  ought;  even  your 
Col.  Browne  himself  must  submit  to  this." 

Your  own  and  your  friends'  feelings  require  no  observation  on 
such  insolence.  This  cannot  now  tend  in  the  least  to  discourage 
your  return  ;  lest  it  should  heretofore,  I  thought  best  not  to  mention 
it.  Farewell. 

Yours  truly, 

WILLIAM  PYNCHON. 

TO  WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  ESQ.,  SALEM. 

London,  May  9,  1784. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  favor  of  the  2d  and  4th  March  was  delivered  into  my  hands 
by  Mr.  Bartlet,  the  sight  of  whom  was  as  unexpected  as  agreeable. 
He  acquaints  me  with  an  event  foretold  to  the  late  Mr.  Barnard  and 
myself  at  Hartford,  some  thirteen  years  ago,  by  a  clergyman  of  that 
town,  concerning  the  mischievous  incendiary  (Dr.  Whitaker)  lately 
dismissed  from  the  remnant  of  God's  heritage  over  which  he  had  for 
too  long  a  time  lorded,  viz.,  that  his  proud,  restless,  turbulent  spirit 
would  not  suffer  him  to  continue  long  without  attempting  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  all  within  reach  of  his  pernicious  influence,  and  must  force 
the  neighborhood  sooner  or  later  to  banish  him.  I  confess,  though 
at  this  great  distance  of  time  and  place,  I  cannot  resist  the  most 
pleasurable  sensations  on  hearing  this  event.  Whatever  is  the  cause 
of  an  alteration  in  the  people's  notions,  the  effects  probably  will 
prove  advantageous  to  their  characters  and  interest. 

My  design  being  to  continue  in  England  till  autumn,  if  the  pro 
prietors  of  the  Social  Library  shall  think  me  likely  to  serve  their  inter- 


1784]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  403 

est  in  the  purchase  of  books,  no  exertions  shall  be  wanting  in  my 
power  to  do  them  justice.  There  is  one  circumstance  relating  to 
books  with  which  you  may  be  unacquainted  :  the  first  edition  of  a 
book  of  character  and  quick  sale  bears  a  high  price  till  the  run  has 
abated  ;  besides,  the  modish  outside  dress,  emblematic  of  the  taste  of 
the  age,  enhances  the  price  not  a  little.  Second  hand  books,  and 
those  out  of  the  tonish  line,  may  generally  be  bought  reasonably ; 
books  of  amusement  and  the  beauties  of  modem  writers  are  in  com 
mon  estimation,  and  sell  dear. 

Respecting  Mr.  Hasket  Derby's  library,  if  it  was  sent  through  a 
merchant,  probably  an  addition  was  put  to  the  bookseller's  price  of 
at  least  25  per  cent,  not  an  uncommon  practice  here. 

Your  mention  of  young  Mr.  Daniel  Oliver  is  sufficient  to 
recommend  him  to  my  respect  and  notice,  if  he  shall  see  fit  to 
desire  it ;  without  which  it  is  not  likely  I  may  see  him,  being 
rarely  in  the  way  of  Americans,  having  forsaken  the  New  England 
Coffee-house,  grown  old,  the  transatlantics  young  and  unknown  to 
me,  and  their  manners  and  language  unpleasing. 

The  easy  credit  obtained  here  is  astonishing,  and  characterizes 
truly  this  nation,  who  are  credulous,  generous,  unsuspecting,  and 
wealthy  beyond  belief;  if  great  mutual  complaints  and  sufferings 
do  not  follow  the  immense  indiscriminate  exports  to  America,  I 
shall  be  much  out  of  my  reckoning. 

It  will  not  be  surprising  to  me  if  French  politics  will  be  as 
much  execrated  among  you  as  they  were  admired  and  praised 
during  the  war  ;  it  is  morally  impossible,  that  despotic  as  the  court 
of  Versailles  is,  she  can  relish  the  republican  principles  and  maxims 
of  the  United  States  longer  than  she  can  make  them  subservient  to 
her  own  ambitious  purposes.  All  the  world  knows  the  ruin  of 
Great  Britain  was  the  only  object  of  her  assisting  America  to  throw 
off  her  dependence,  and  the  folly  of  her  statesmen  has  aided  the 
views  of  that  intriguing  power.  Never  had  this  country  a  fairer 
opportunity  of  disappointing  the  pernicious  views  of  her  rival 
neighbors  than  the  present,  were  there  a  public  spirit  in  this  in 
fatuated  nation ;  but,  alas !  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare  is  no 
more  to  be  found  among  its  rulers.  However  indignantly  I  behold 
the  conduct  of  her  neighbors,  I  confess  France  should  be  consid 
ered  only  as  a  rival  power,  striving  to  give  the  law  to  a  state  that 


404  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

has  for  more  than  a  century  made  it  a  professed  principle  to  thwart 
all  her  political  views.  I  hope  your  people  will  have  more 
wisdom  than  to  permit  an  aristocratic  spirit  to  take  place  among 
you  ;  for  of  all  civil  oppressions  that  is  most  intolerable. 

I  sincerely  thank  you  for  all  your  favors,  particularly  the  last ; 
the  contents  of  your  letters  might  have  been  published  at  the 
market-cross  without  injury  to  your  character  in  the  height  of  the 
war,  unless  with  such  persons  as  Alcock  and  Whitaker,  whose 
mad  party  zeal  construed  into  guilt  every  innocent  word  and  act 
of  those  they  were  disposed  to  slander  and  vilify. 
I  am,  with  great  truth, 

Your  faithful  and  grateful  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

May  9.  After,  service  proceeded  to  Mr.  Danforth's  lodgings 
to  take  him  by  agreement  to  Kensington  Gardens,  where  after  a 
few  turns  adjourned  to  "  Adam  and  Eve"  ordinary.  Mr.  Samuel 
Porter  and  young  Farnham  afterwards  joined  us  in  the  gardens, 
which  we  found  excessively  crowded  ;  among  others  the  Duke  of 
Chartres,  brother  of  the  French  king,  and  two  other  French  noble 
men. 

May  11.  Saw  John  Sparhawk  from  (near)  Portsmouth  for  the 
first  time. 

May  13.     Saw  Captain  Ingersoll  from  Salem. 

May  15.  With  Mr.  Bartlet  purchased  plays  for  Mr.  Pynchon, 
and  law-books  for  Mr.  Ward.  Mr.  Bartlet  presented  me  with  a 
medal  struck  in  Philadelphia ; — in  a  round  compartment  stands, 

«  U.  S 5 ....  1783  ;"— round, «  Libertas  d  Justitia  ;"  on  the 

other  side,  in  the  centre,  an  eye  surrounded  by  a  glory ;  the  whole 
encompassed  by  thirteen  stars, — with  the  legend,  "  Nova  Constel- 
latio." 

May  17.  To  Covent  Garden  ;  abode  an  hour  amidst  very 
numerous  throngs,  this  being  the  last  day  of  polling,  and  Fox  to  be 
chaired,  it  is  feared  ;  great  riots  and  destruction  will  be  the  conse 
quence.  The  foot-guards  and  a  squadron  of  horse  are  ordered 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness,  and  approach  within  a  callable 
distance.  In  the  afternoon  went  to  Covent  Garden,  now  emptied ; 
the  company  gone  to  attend  Mr.  Fox's  procession, — the  hustings 


1784]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  405 

removed,  and  all  the  stands  taken  down.  Proceeded  thence  to 
Charing  Cross,  which,  to  my  surprise,  I  found  crowded  ;  the  pro 
cession  then  just  beginning  to  march  by  from  Westminster  Hall, 
in  the  following  order  : — the  officers  of  each  parish  distinct,  with 
their  peculiar  standards,  attending  two  and  two,  with  wands  in  their 
hands ;  bands  of  music  ;  next  gentlemen  on  horseback ;  then  others 
on  foot ;  in  the  rear  was  Mr.  Byng,  whose  appearance  was  an 
nounced  by  "  Byng  and  Fox  for  ever  /"  Then  followed  a  few 
horsemen ;  then  Mr.  Fox,  mounted  on  a  lofty  chair,  on  and  around 
interwoven  with  a  laurel  bower  almost  encompassing  him  j  soon 
after  appeared  a  lofty  white  silk  banner,  with  this  inscription, — 
"  Sacred  to  female  patriotism  /'  and  was  immediately  followed 
by  the  Duchesses  of  Portland  and  Devonshire  in  their  coaches, 
around  which  were  laurel  festoons,  each  drawn  by  six  horses ;  the 
whole  concluded  with  about  thirty  private  carriages.  An  innume 
rable  crowd  attended,  and  with  vociferous  acclamations,  but  no 
riot  nor  mobbing;  government  having  wisely  provided  the  horse 
and  foot-guards,  which  probably  discouraged  the  ill-disposed. 

May  20.  Parson  Walter  and  Mr.  Danforth  visited  me  and 
took  tea. 

May  21.  Visited  by  Captain  Ingersoll  from  Salem,  from  whom  I 
have  heard  more  particulars  relative  to  the  present  state  of  the  town 
and  its  inhabitants  than  for  several  years. 

TO  WILLIAM  VANS,  ESd.,  SALEM. 

London,  May  21, 1784. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favor  of  2d  January,  was,  I  acknowledge,  unexpected ; 
but  did  not  surprise  me,  though  at  this  late  day.  The  difference  of 
your  sentiments  from  mine  and  those  of  my  mistaken  friends, 
needed  not  to  have  caused  the  destruction  of  your  former  letter ; 
for  how  wide  soever  our  political  notions  have  been,  or  perhaps 
now  are,  that  letter,  I  dare  say,  conceived  in  purity  of  intention, 
and  brought  forth  in  decency  of  expression,  could  not  have  failed 
to  prove  informative  and  amusing ;  and  on  that  score  a  welcome 
present.  Besides,  I  sit  in  judgment  on  no  man ;  wishing  for  candor 
towards  myself,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  practise  it  in  my  turn  to  all ; 
referring  it  to  God  alone  to  approve  or  condemn,  who  alone  has 


406  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

the  right ;  and  to  knaves  and  fools  who  have  none,  to  usurp  that 
right. 

The  doubts  that  have  hitherto  discouraged  my  attempting  to 
trust  the  faithless  waves  again,  are  derived  from  more  than  one 
source.  However  wanting  in  respect  the  appellation,  I  had 
rather  be  accounted  a  timid  friend,  a  light  you  say  I  am 
viewed  in,  than  an  enemy ;  a  reproach  I  am  not  conscious  to 
have  deserved. 

Your  report  of  the  returned  penitents  to  their  former  habitations, 
strengthens  my  belief  of  lenity  towards  myself,  should  I  ever  be  in 
a  condition  to  stand  in  need  of  such  lenity.  However,  if  I  rightly 
understand  the  meaning  of  your  caution  to  address  to  the  care  of  a 
friend,  you  yourself,  sanguine  and  positive  as  you  are  of  the  safety 
of  my  person  and  property,  think  it  a  proper  precaution  to  slip 
behind  the  curtain  for  a  while  after  entering  on  the  territories  of  the 
United  States ;  a  part,  Mr.  Vans,  I  shall  on  no  account  stoop  to 
act,  dissimulation  being  no  part  of  my  character,  and  I  am  too  late 
in  life  to  assume  new  habits. 

I  am  well  pleased  to  hear  of  the  singular  moderation  of  the 
town  of  Salem ;  if  other  towns  have  been  violent  in  words  only, 
as  your  letter  intimates,  their  character  is  greatly  injured  and  the 
public  abused. 

Having  answered  your  letter,  I  now  take  leave,  after  subscribing 
myself  with  due  regards,  Your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  8.  William  Browne,  lately  arrived  from  Gibraltar,  where 
he  served  as  an  officer  during  the  siege,  son  of  Colonel  Browne, 
now  governor  of  Bermudas,  called  on  me  after  an  interval  of 
six  years  ;  he  appears  intelligent,  and  his  manners  much  refined. 

June  11.  To  my  townsman,  S.  Porter's  lodgings,  Kensington, 
through  the  gardens.  There  seems  no  inclination  in  him  or  any 
refugees  to  return  back ;  fed,  I  presume,  with  delusive  hopes  of  a 
compensation,  or  rather  deluding  themselves  with  ungrounded  ex 
pectations  founded  only  in  their  vain  wishes  and  desires  of  court 
compassion,  which  may  be  justly  added  to  Lord  Rochester's  list  of 
ideal  nothings. 

June  19.    At  one  o'clock  the  funeral  procession  of  Sir  Barnard 


1784]  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  407 

Turner,  sheriff,  passed  through  Bishopgate-street  amidst  great 
crowds,  though  much  lessened  by  the  delay  which  the  populace 
mistook  for  its  being  laid  aside  ;  the  body  had  been  arrested  after 
it  was  put  into  the  hearse,  in  the  street,  for  a  considerable  debt, 
which  was  afterwards  compromised,  on  whose  or  what  account  is 
variously  stated.  The  hearse  was  preceded  by  two  lines  of  the 
artillery  association,  headed  by  an  officer  and  five  privates  abreast, 
their  firelocks  reversed,  marching  in  slow  pace,  muffled  drums 
beating,  trumpets  sounding,  and  other  instruments  playing  the 
104th  psalm  tune ;  the  hearse  was  adorned  with  large  flowing 
plumes  of  ostrich  feathers,  just  before  which  was  led  the  horse  of 
the  deceased,  dressed  in  black ;  on  the  saddle  were  laid  the  hat, 
sword,  and  boots  crossed.  A  small  detachment  of  the  artillery 
company  followed  the  carriage  of  the  deceased  and  those  of  his 
brother  sheriffs  ;  after  which  the  whole  closed  by  fourteen  car 
riages,  each  drawn  by  two  pair  of  horses ;  the  whole  was  to 
proceed  nine  miles,  to  Tottenham ;  solemn  and  pompous  in  the 
extreme. 

June  22.  At  New  England  Coffee-house  read  Mr.  Pitt's  speech 
and  motion  to  stop  the  smuggling  of  tea,  by  a  repeal  of  the  heavy 
duty  on  that  article,  and  substituting  a  lighter  one ;  and  to  prevent 
any  injury  to  the  revenue,  by  laying  an  additional  house  and 
window  tax,  whereby  the  poor  and  middling  classes  will  be  eased ; 
and  the  burden,  as  it  ought,  will  lay  on  the  wealthy.  Polling  in 
the  Borough  for  the  election  of  a  member  in  the  room  of  the  late 
Sir  Barnard  Turner ;  candidates,  Sir  Richard  Hotham,  and  Mr. 
Paul  Mesurier. 

FROM  HON.  JONATHAN  SEWALL. 

Bristol,  June  28,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  communication  of  your  inten 
tions  to  revisit  America,  and  for  your  obliging  offer  of  accepting 
any  services  I  may  wish  to  trouble  you  with.  I  am  clear  in  my 
judgment  that  you  are  perfectly  right  in  your  present  determination ; 
you  have  taken  no  active  part, — your  family  has  remained  unmo 
lested,  and  Mr.  F.  Cabot  assures  me,  that  whenever  you  choose  to 
return  you  will  be  received  with  the  warmest  cordiality  by  all  your 


408  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

old  friends,  and  will  receive  no  insult  from  any ;  in  short,  that  you 
may  go  as  safely  as  he  can.  This  was  his  closing  expression. 
You  have  not  told  me  when  you  intend  to  embark ;  if  you  think 
proper  to  give  me  seasonable  notice  of  the  time,  perhaps  I  may 
trouble  you  with  the  care  of  one  or  two  letters,  provided  you  dare 
be  the  bearer  of  them  from  an  alien — traitor  by  law,  vide  Act  of 
1779.  If  you  have  any  qualms,  as  I  don't  know  but  you  may, 
upon  good  grounds,  give  me  but  a  hint  of  your  fears  or  wishes, 
and  I  shall  conform  to  either,  as  my  letters  will  be  of  no  importance 
to  myself  or  my  correspondents — no  treason,  no  politics,  I  assure 
you.  If  you  go,  as  I  with  twenty-eight  others  still  remain  exiles, 
it  is  not  probable  we  shall  ever  see  each  other  again,  in  this  world- 
God  only  knows  what  kind  of  one  the  next  will  be,  whether  more 
or  less  dirty— be  it  what  it  may,  if  we  meet  I  shall  most  joyfully 
take  you  by  the  hand.  Indeed  I  don't  absolutely  despair  of  seeing 
you  again  in  this  strange  world,  for  upon  my  soul,  though  I  was 
born  and  bred  yet  I  am  a  stranger  in  it ;  but  my  design  is  to  go 
out  to  N.  Scotia  this  autumn  or  early  in  the  spring — there,  if  you 
wish,  you  may  see  me,  but  while  the  unjust,  illiberal,  lying  act  of 
1779  remains  unrepealed,  never  will  I  set  foot  on  the  territories  of 
the  thirteen  United  Independent  States.  I  feel  no  resentment 
against  them.  I  wish  them  more  happiness  in  their  unnatural  in 
dependence  than  my  judgment  allows  me  to  hope  for  them — but  I 
have  been  mistaken  throughout  the  whole  voyage;  yet,  however 
I  may  have  been  out  in  my  former  opinions,  I  wish  my  judgment 
may  still  be  erroneous — I  wish,  most  sincerely,  my  native  country 
may  meet  all  the  happiness  she  has  sought,  per  fas  et  nefas — she 
thinks  she  has  obtained  it — I  wish  she  may  not  be  mistaken ;  but  I 
have  my  doubts. 

Mrs.  Sewall  accepts  with  thanks  your  compliments,  and  returns 
them  most  cordially ;  my  sister,  whom  you  kindly  remember,  died, 
poor  girl,  on  the  17th  of  May  last,  after  a  paralytic  stroke  about 
three  months  before ;  I  think  I  may  say,  she  has  gone  with  as  few 
faults  on  her  head  as  any  of  us  can  expect  to  go  with.  I  miss  her 
greatly, — but  why  should  we  complain  t 

I  am  your  humble  servant  and  sincere  friend, 

JONA.  SEWALL. 


1784.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  409 


TO  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL,  BRISTOL. 

London,  June  29,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR: 

On  some  accounts  I  shall  return  to  America  with  reluctance, 
having  many  doubts  on  my  mind  of  meeting  such  a  reception  as 
will  encourage  my  continued  abode  in  that  land  of  purity,  sanctity 
and  liberty.  I  feel  too  independent  a  spirit  within  to  apprehend  or 
regard  any  danger  from  republican  licentiousness,  which  ever  has 
been  my  contempt  and  abhorrence. 

The  following  inter  nos.  The  success  of  my  application  to  the 
commissioners,  now  sitting  in  the  Treasury,  I  am  as  yet  ignorant  of  5 
my  memorial  or  petition  was  this  day  delivered  in,  and  is  to  be  con 
sidered  to-morrow.  Whatever  shall  be  the  event  I  shall  endeavor 
to  support  the  same  spirit,  though  a  success  equal  to  my  supposed 
just  expectations  would  serve  as  pillars  or  buttresses  in  an  old  tot 
tering  edifice,  to  add  strength  and  support  thereto. 

Please  make  my  compliments  to  your  family,  and  to  Mr.  Sam 
uel  Sewall  if  in  your  neighborhood. 

Dear  sir,  your  affectionate  friend,  etc., 

S.  CURWEN. 

June  29.  After  composing  the  following  petition,  I  proceeded 
with  it  to  the  Treasury — dubious  of  its  fate  or  fortune. 

"  To  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  act  of  Parliament  to  con 
sider  the  sufferings  and  service  of  the  American  loyalists: 

"  The  petition  of  Samuel  Curwen  humbly  showeth  :  That  your 
petitioner  was  forced  to  abandon  his  home  and  dwelling  by  the 
repeated  menaces  of  the  people  within  a  few  days  after  the  unhap 
py  rencounter  at  Lexington,  who  reproached  all  persons  with  the 
invidious  appellation  of  tories,  as  they  chose  to  call  such  as  did  not 
openly  accuse  the  king's  troops  as  aggressors,  were  for  supporting 
law  and  order,  and  for  forbearing  future  violences  ;  among  which 
number  your  petitioner  was  one.  Taking  refuge  aboard  a  vessel 
bound  to  Philadephia,  he  arrived  there,  hoping  to  find  an  asylum 
from  outrage  and  indignity ;  but  in  this  he  was  mistaken,  for 
though  that  city  had  during  all  former  wars  shown  a  manifest  dis 
like  to  military  levies  and  arrangements,  and  when  in  the  late  dis- 

52 


410  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  [1784. 

pute,  a  singular  moderation ;  at  this  period  the  political  frenzy 
had  risen  to  an  equal  height  as  in  New  England,  and  your  petition 
er  was  soon  informed  that  that  city  could  prove  no  refuge  to  him, 
even  by  those  friends  under  whose  protection  he  sought  for  safety  ; 
the  only  condition  of  his  continuing  there  was  a  public  renunciation 
of  his  principles,  acknowledging  his  errors,  and   promising  future 
obedience  to  the  new  assumed  powers.     Loth  to  be  held  up  to  the 
public  in  so  disgraceful  and  mortifying  a  view,  and  to  confess  a 
falsehood,  he  took  the  only  alternative  in  his  power.  All  communi 
cation  with  the  northward  by  sea  being   forbidden   by   the  city 
committee  of  safety  and  inspection,  lest  General  Gage's  troops  at 
Boston   should  be  supplied  with  flour,  etc.,  and  by  land  no  letters 
could  be  sent  but  under  the  inspection  of  the  state  inquisitors — the 
regular  post-office  established  by  act  of  Parliament  being  shut  up, 
and  travelling  by  land  dangerous  to  any  but  those  called  sons  of 
liberty — he  therefore  took  shipping  again,  and  after   a   series   of 
dangers  in  a  very  tedious  passage,  arrived  in  London,  where  and 
in  the  country,  he  has  resided  to  the  present  time,  subsisting  whilst 
his  own  stock  lasted  on  that,  and  since  on  the   public  bounty. 
Having  received  some  overtures  since  the  peace  took  place  from 
some  of  his  townsmen  of  Salem,  which,  together  with  the  sad  de 
rangement  of  his  affairs  there,  makes  him  wish  to  revisit  his  native 
country  of  New  England,  but  the  advices  from  his  friends  rendering 
it  still  doubtful  whether  he  can  with  safety  and  comfort  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  days  there — being  near  the  verge  of  threescore 
years  and  ten — he  proposes  therefore   to   retreat  to   Nova  Scotia 
or  one  of  the  royal  colonies,  in  case  he  cannot  obtain  a  resettlement 
on  the  forementioned  conditions,  and  therefore  humbly   requests 
liberty  to  appoint  an  agent  here   to  receive   the   usual  allowance 
hitherto  indulged  him,  and  for  so  long  a  time  as  may  be  judged 
proper  to  continue  it. 

And  your  petitioner  as  in  duty  bound,  etc., 

SAMUEL  CURWEN." 

July  2.  Went  to  Treasury  ;  returned  re  infecta,  not  a  little 
deranged  but  not  much  disappointed  ;  my  expectations  from  court 
not  being  high,  I  can  suffer  but  rarely  any  inconvenience,  taking 
care  not  to  put  myself  in  the  way  of  frequent  mortification.  The 


1784.]  JOURNAL     AND      LETTERS.  411 

present  application  is  of  a  kind  I  should  have  thought  not  liable  to 
a  repulse,  many  such  favors  having  been  already  granted,  if  the  re 
quest  deserves  not  rather  the  appellation  of  a  just  demand. 

July  5.  Went  to  the  Treasury,  and  there  received  the  agreea 
ble  information  that  the  commissioners  had  granted  my  petition  to 
appoint  an  agent  to  receive  my  quarterly  allowance  after  my  de 
parture  from  England,  on  making  satisfactory  proof  of  my  being 
alive  at  the  successive  periods  of  payment.  From  this  I  date  an 
end  to  my  doubts  respecting  my  embarkation  ;  its  issue  time  must 
reveal. 

July  7.  Made  an  early  visit  to  Mr.  Gorham,  to  talk  on  the 
subject  of  our  passage  with  Capt.  Ingersoll. 

July  8.  On  'change  met  Capt.  Folger  and  John  Spar- 
hawk,  both  of  whom  I  wish  to  embark  with  Mr.  Gorham  and  my 
self  with  Capt.  Ingersoll.  Mr.  Jonathan  Jackson  called  on  me  for 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  George  Russell  of  Birmingham, 
which  I  cheerfully  gave,  acquainting  Mr.  Russell  that  he  possessed 
an  unblemished  reputation  and  extensive  property,  in  case  he  may 
form  any  commercial  arrangement  there. 

TO  REV.  JOSEPH  BRETLAND,  EXETER. 

London,  July  9,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  could  not,  with  my  strong  sense  of  obligation  to  Mr.  Bretland 
for  the  many  instances  of  respectful  attention  received  from  him 
during  my  residence  in  the  west,  leave  England  without  acknow 
ledging  them.  My  departure  from  London  will  be  within  a  fort 
night — a  voyage  at  this  late  hour  of  my  life  is  an  undertaking, 
even  were  the  prospects  bright,  I  would  gladly  dispense  with ;  but 
duty  and  interest  call  too  loudly  to  be  resisted.  I  presume  your 
acquaintance  on  the  western  continent  lies  in  a  very  narrow  com 
pass  ;  however,  if  it  shall  be  in  my  power  to  serve  or  amuse  you 
in  respect  to  the  concerns  in  that  distant  quarter,  I  shall  feel  my 
self  obliged  by  gratifying  your  wish. 

I  know  not  in  what  employment  I  am  to  pass  the  small  rem 
nant  of  my  days,  should  Providence  permit  my  safe  return  home ; 
but  I  shall  not  think  part  of  it  ill-bestowed  in  directing  and  assist 
ing  the  studies  and  pursuits  of  my  niece's  children,  who  are  just  of 


412  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  [1784 

an  age  to  receive  useful  ideas — with  regard  to  the  English,  Latin 
and  Greek  tongues,  I  shall  esteem  it  a  peculiar  favor  if  you  will 
be  pleased  to  forward  me  a  list  of  books 'and  the  order  in  which 
they  should  be  used. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  10.  To  the  Treasury ;  found  the  American  door  besieged 
by  a  score  of  mendicants  like  myself,  waiting  their  turns — though 
I  thought  my  early  attendance  would  have  entitled  me  to  No.  1, 1 
was  glad  to  stand  No.  21;  so  great  was  the  crowd  that  I  was 
more  than  once  about  to  depart  and  leave  them. 

July  11.  With  Capt.  Coombs  took  an  airing  to  the  tower, 
having  encompassed  it  on  the  ramparts,  and  taken  a  view  of  the 
American  thirteen  stripes  flying  on  eight  vessels  lying  in  one  tier ; 
the  first  view  I  ever  distinctly  had  of  their  independent  naval  glory. 
Arranged  about  going  with  Capt.  Ingersoll. 

July  16.  Gave  a  power  of  attorney  to  George  Bainbridge  of 
Bread-street,  to  receive  my  pension  quarterly. 

July  18.  Mr.  Cassini,  the  French  mathematician,  having 
presented  through  his  ambassador  in  London  a  memorial,  praying 
that  some  person  would  undertake  to  carry  triangles  from  Green 
wich  to  Dover  to  meet  the  French  at  Calais,  in  order  to  determine 
the  exact  distance  between  the  observatories  of  Paris  and  Green 
wich  ;  his  majesty,  who  is  ever  ready  to  patronize  useful  schemes, 
immediately  granted  one  thousand  pounds  for  the  carrying  it  on, 
and  General  Roy  was,  by  his  own  consent,  fixed  upon  for  the  un 
dertaking. 

TO  REV.  JOSEPH  BRETLAND,  EXETER,  DEVON. 

London,  July  19,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  obliging  favor  of  the  17th  is  just  received.  For  a  Jong 
time  1  was  flattered  with  the  expectation  that  my  philosophical  ac 
quaintance  would  comply  with  his  promise  to  answer  your  favor, 
till  I  had  in  truth  forgotten  I  had  not  written  you,  and  my  delay 
arose  from  his,  which  at  last  ended  in  a  refusal.  He  seems  to  value 


1784.]  JOURNAL     AND    LETTERS.  413 

himself  on  a  freedom  from  the  shackles  of  fear,  and  thinks  that 
an  advantage  which  no  believer  in  the  existence  of  a  Deity  can 
boast  of,  and  to  that  principle  refers  all  those  labored  treatises  to 
prove  one ;  and  though  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  system, 
is  satisfied  a  universal  belief  of  them  in  the  present  state  of  things 
would  not  be  productive  of  beneficial  effects  in  society,  which  to 
me  is  instead  of  a  thousand  arguments  to  manifest  their  falsity. 

I  would  with  unfeigned  pleasure  travel  further  than  the  distance 
between  us  to  meet  my  worthy  friend,  but  unless  the  weather  pre 
vent,  or  some  unforeseen  accident  intervene,  to  which  human  af 
fairs  are  liable,  I  shall  take  shipping  within  four  days.  It  repents 
me  much  that  I  had  not  availed  myself  of  leisure  to  have  visited 
you ;  but  past  neglects  may  be,  like  this,  lamented,  not  repaired. 

Your  kind  information  in  respect  to  method  of  teaching,!  thank 
you  for ;  your  friendly  caution  I  take  in  good  part,  and  shall  not 
fail  to  attend  to  it;  and  your  request,  you  may  depend  on  my 
compliance  with. 

Be  pleased  to  make  my  respectful  compliments  to  all  friends. 
I  remain,  with  real  regard, 

Yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 

July  20.  Went  to  Mr.  Copley's,  George-street,  Hanover- 
square,  to  take  my  leave  of  him,  and  pay  my  last  compliments  to 
his  father-in-law,  Mr.  R.  Clarke,  and  the  family.  Mr.  Copley  ab 
sent  at  Tunbridge. 

July  22.  Accompanied  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Gorham,  breakfasted 
on  board  ship  Union,  Capt.  Jonathan  Ingersoll,  wherein  I  have  en 
gaged  my  passage  to  Boston ;  met  Benjamin  Pickman  the  elder 
and  younger.  Dined  at  Mr.  De  Berdt's,  in  company  with  General 
Joseph  Reed  of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Gorham ;  also  drank  tea 
and  passed  the  evening  there. 

July  25,  Sunday.  Attended  worship  at  Mr.  Lindsay's  chapel, 
Essex-street,  Strand ;  took  my  final  leave  of  Mr.  Lindsay  and  Dr. 
Disney  at  the  chapel  door. 

July  28.  Took  leave  at  lodgings  107  Bishopgate-street  with 
in,  and  proceeded  to  the  ship  Union,  lying  at  Irongate,  where  I 
purpose  to  abide  till  my  arrival  at  Gravesend.  Paid  twenty  guineas 


414  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

in  part  for  my  passage  money.  From  henceforth  I  bid  an  ever 
lasting  farewell  to  London.  At  ten  o'clock  the  Tower  guns,  to  the 
number  of  eighty,  were  discharged  ;  this  being  the  day  appointed 
by  royal  proclamation  to  be  observed  as  a  thanksgiving  for  the 
general  peace.  Despatched  a  boat  to  bring  Capt.  Coombs  from 
his  brig  Minerva ;  Capt.  Patterson  and  Cleves  also  drank  tea  with  us. 

Aug.  1.     Proceeded  down  the  river  with  a  fair  wind. 

Aug.  2.     Anchored  off  Deal. 

Jiug.  3.  Capt.  Ingersoll  with  two  passengers  arrived  on  board ; 
immediately  after  the  ship  broke  ground,  and  in  an  hour  entered 
the  Channel';  and  now  hey  for  the  ocean. 

Aug.  4.  This  morning  all  our  passengers  breakfasted  together 
for  the  first  time;  their  names,  Nathaniel  Gorham,  William  Smith, 
Lewis  and  Francis  Deblois,  of  Boston,  a  Mr.  Isle,  and  myself. 

Aug.  6.  Stood  in  for  St.  Helen's  road ;  thence  proceeded  to 
Cowes  harbor,  Isle  of  Wight,  where  we  anchored  ;  went  ashore, 
took  tea  and  supped  at  the  Vine  inn. 

Aug.  7.  WTith  four  fellow-passengers  took  coach  for  Newport, 
the  only  borough  town  on  the  island,  consisting  of  four  hundred 
houses  ;  it  lies  at  the  head  of  water  beyond  Cowes  five  miles  ;  re 
markable  for  no  manufactures  or  productions,  natural  or  artificial : 
thence  trudged  it  on  foot  to  Carisbrook  Castle,  on  an  eminence  a 
mile  or  more  distant,  now  in  ruins,  and  inhabited  by  a  family  named 
Poney,  consisting  of  two  or  three  maidens  and  their  servants.  The 
church  is  a  living  of  ,£120  per  annum.  After  dinner  we  all  set  off 
for  our  ship. 

Aug.  8.  Got  under  weigh,  and  at  six  o'clock  are  now  in  the 
bay,  steering  for  Lyrnington  road,  where  we  arrived  at  nine  o'clock 
and  anchored,  waiting  for  the  ebb  to  carry  us  through  the  Needles 
at  a  league's  distance.  These  rocks  lie  on  the  island  side  of  the  en 
trance,  and  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  main  land  of  England.  On 
a  point,  of  a  mile  or  so  in  length,  stands  Hurst  Castle,  remarkable 
in  history  for  being  the  prison  of  King  Charles,  not  long  before  his 
execution. 

Aug.  10.  Supposed  off  Berryhead,  at  five  leagues  distant. 
Afternoon  changed  our  course  and  entered  Dartmouth  harbor. 

Aug.  11.  At  six  o'clock  A.  M.  in  the  offing,  Start  bearing  N. 
by  E.,  four  leagues  distant ;  dead  calm  ;  ten  vessels  in  sight. 


1784.]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  415 

Aug.  13.  Spoke  brig  Paragon,  twenty-eight  days  out  from 
Alexandria,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughes  on  board. 

Sept.  25.  Arrived  at  Boston,  and  at  half  past  three  o'clock 
landed  at  the  end  of  Long-wharf,  after  an  absence  of  nine  years 
and  five  months,  occasioned  by  a  lamented  civil  war,  excited  by 
ambitious,  selfish  men  here  and  in  England,  to  the  disgrace,  dis 
honor,  distress,  and  disparagement  of  these  extensive  territories. 
By  plunder  and  rapine  some  few  have  accumulated  wealth,  but 
many  more  are  greatly  injured  in  their  circumstances ;  some  have 
to  lament  over  the  wreck  of  their  departed  wealth  and  estates,  of 
which  pitiable  number  I  am ;  my  affairs  having  sunk  into  irre 
trievable  ruin. 

TO  CAPT.  MICHAEL  COOMBS,  LONDON. 

Salem,  Mass.,  Oct.  9,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

This  day  fortnight,  at  half  past  three  P.  M.,  I  landed  on  the 
head  of  the  Long-wharf,  in  Boston, being  the  first  American  ground 
I  had  touched  since  May  12,  1775,  when  I  departed  from  Phila 
delphia.  It  is  no  less  strange  than  unaccountable,  how  low,  mean 
and  diminutive  every  thing  on  shore  appeared  to  me.  On  Sunday, 
being  the  day  following,  I  left  for  this  place,  where  I  alighted  at 
the  house  of  my  former  residence,  and  not  a  man,  woman,  or  child, 
but  expressed  a  satisfaction  at  seeing  me,  and  welcomed  me  back. 
Thus  much  for  myself. 

The  few  things  for  your  widow  I  have  delivered  into  her  hands, 
and  I  find  her  a  woman  of  uncommon  vigor  and  equanimity,  nor 
do  I  think  one  to  be  met  with  who  has  better  acquitted  herself  in 
the  late  trying  times.  By  her  resolution  she  has  preserved  the 
household  furniture  from  confiscation  and  waste,  and  your  account- 
books  from  inspection,  though  menaced  and  flattered  by  the  state 
agents.  The  melancholy  derangement  of  my  own  affairs  has  so 
entirely  unsettled  me,  that  I  can  scarce  attend  to  any  thing.  I 
think  it  very  unlikely  my  house  can  be  saved.*  It  shall  be  among 
my  first  engagements  to  attend  to  your  affairs. 

With  real  regard,  your  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 
*  It  was  saved  from  confiscation. 


416  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1784. 

TO  JONATHAN  SMITH,  ESQ.,  PHILADELPHIA 

Salem,  Oct.  9,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  \ 

A  few  days  since  I  returned  to  the  place  of  my  nativity,  after 
an  absence  of  more  than  nine  years,  in  which  interval  I  find  great 
revolutions  to  have  taken  place,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  civil 
and  political  state  of  America  in  general,  but  also  with  respect  to 
the  property  of  individuals.  Whilst  some  from  the  narrowest  and 
baset  condition  have  arisen  to  high  honors  and  great  wealth,  others 
from  comfortable,  reputable,  and  even  respectable  and  affluent, 
have  fallen  into  indigent  and  distressed  circumstances ;  and  al 
though  the  latter  is  not  exactly  my  case,  I  confess  myself  verging 
to  that  point ;  my  affairs  are  sadly  deranged,  but  I  hope  time  and 
application  will  cure  the  disorder.  For  that  purpose,  I  beg  you 
will  forward  to  me  a  box  containing  my  account-books  left  in  your 
father's  hands  for  security  during  my  absence. 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

S.  CURWEN. 

TO  CAPT.  MICHAEL  COOMBS,  LONDON. 

Salem,  Nov.  15,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  waited  on  Mr.  Sewall,*  a  lawyer  of  your  town  5  from  him 
I  learn  he  has  undertaken  to  procure  the  necessary  papers,  and 
will,  at  my  pressing  instance,  set  about  it  immediately ;  my  argu 
ment  being  constantly,  delay  is  almost  as  fatal  to  my  friend  as  total 
neglect. 

I  am  now  to  congratulate  you  on  the  salvation  of  your  wharf 
and  warehouse  from  the  villainous  hands  of  the  rapacious  harpies, 
the  commissioners  ;  that  part  of  your  real  estate,  by  great  luck  was 
neglected  in  the  libel  by  which  your  other  was  seized  and  confis 
cated,  and  therefore  it  still  remains  your  property.  What  debts 
are  claimed  and  proved,  must,  by  the  law  that  confiscates,  be  levied 
on  and  taken  out  of  the  estate  sold,  the  remainder  escheats  to  the 

*  Mr.  Samuel  Sewall,  of  Marblehead,  afterwards  chief  justice  of  Mas 
sachusetts, 


1784]  JOURNAL    AND    LETTERS.  417 

public  treasury.  But  so  infamously  knavish  has  been  the  conduct 
of  the  commissioners,  that  though  frequent  attempts  have  been 
made  to  bring  them  to  justice,  and  respond  for  the  produce  of  the 
funds  resting  in  their  hands,  so  numerous  are  the  defaulters  in  that 
august  body,  the  General  Court,  that  all  efforts  have  hitherto  proved 
vain.  Not  twopence  in  the  pound  have  arrived  to  the  public  trea 
sury  of  all  the  confiscations  ! 

Mr.  Sewall  says,  were  you  disposed,  he  would  advise  you  not 
to  come  here,  until  the  act  respecting  refugees  or  absentees  be 
passed,  which  will  be,  it  is  thought,  this  session. 

The  triumphant  here  look  down  with  contempt  on  the  van 
quished  ',  their  little  minds  are  not  equal  to  the  astonishing  success 
of  their  feeble  arms.  God  bless  the  worthy  and  blast  the  villainous 
of  every  party.* 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  CURWEN. 


TO  HON.  JUDGE  SEWALL,  BRISTOL,  ENGLAND. 

Sdem,  Nov.  22,  1784. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  find  myself  completely  ruined.  I  confess  1  cannot  bear  to 
stay  and  perish  under  the  ruins  of  my  late  ample  property,  and 
shall,  therefore,  as  soon  as  I  can  recover  my  account-books,  left  in 
Philadelphia  on  my  departure  from  America,  and  settle  my  deranged 
affairs,  retreat  to  Nova  Scotia,  unless  my  allowance  shall  be  taken 
from  me.  I  am  ignorant  whether  it  may  be  prudent  to  make  appli 
cation  to  the  commissioners  on  American  refugees'  affairs ;  but  being 
here  by  their  indulgence,  I  wish  my  allowance  may  continue.  And 
if  in  this  representation  you  can  afford  me  any  assistance  by  your 
self,  or  in  concert  with  Mr.  Danforth,  to  whom  I  have  also  written, 
1  shall  thankfully  acknowledge  your  counsel  and  aid,  as  a  kind  en 
deavor  to  rescue  from  want  your  old  and  faithful  friend, 

S.  CURWEN. 

*  Capt.  Coombs,  to  whom  the  foregoing  letter  was  addressed,  and  who  is 
often  mentioned  in  Judge  Curwen's  Journal,  was  a  respectable  merchant  of 
Marblehead,  Mass.,  to  which  place  he  returned  some  years  after  the  peace, 
and  died  there  at  an  advanced  age. 

53 


418  JOURNAL     AND     LETTERS.  [1795. 

1795.  [The  following  letters  were  written  ten  years  after 
Judge  Curwen's  return,  when  in  his  eightieth  year.  He  survived 
several  years  longer,  having  died  at  Salem  April,  1802.] 

TO  SAMUEL  CURWEN,  ESQ.. 

Dorchester,  Feb.  6, 1795. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Many  years  are  elapsed  since  I  saw  you.  Hearing  lately  that 
you  were  returned  to  Salem,  I  have  taken  this  opportunity  to  write 
to  you.  In  the  year  1741  I  was  taken  ill,  and  continued  poorly 
several  years,  but  as  Providence  ordered  it,  got  better  and  have  kept 
school  here  fourteen  years ;  I  was  treasurer  for  the  town  thirty -seven 
years,  and  one  of  the  selectmen  and  assessors  thereof  forty  years. 
Although  the  most  of  our  class  that  are  dead  seemed  more  likely 
to  live  long  than  I,  yet  to  a  wonder  I  am  spared.  It  pleased  God 
in  his  holy  providence  a  few  years  since  to  deprive  me  of  my  habi 
tation  by  fire ;  by  the  help  of  friends  I  have  got  up  a  house,  arid 
have  so  far  finished  it  that  I  and  my  family  live  in  it. 

Be  pleased  to  let  me  hear  from  you,  if  you  can  send  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Hopestill  Capens,  a  kinsman  of  mine  living  in  Boston,  near 
the  market ;  1  hope  I  shall  receive  it.  If  you  come  to  Boston,  be 
pleased  to  come  over  and  see  me ;  I  live  within  four  miles  of  the 
state-house. 

From  your  classmate, 

NOAH  CLAP. 

TO  NOAH  CLAP. 

Salem,  February  18,  1795. 
MY  FRIEND  CLAP  : 

Your  unexpected  but  agreeable  letter  of  the  6th  inst.  was  re 
ceived  about  a  week  since,  wherein  you  say  you  are  among  the 
very  few  of  our  fellow-students  and  classmates  that  are  still  in  the 
land  of  the  living.  This  has  been  a  subject  of  my  frequent  thoughts 
and  inquiry ;  the  result  follows :  Willis,  Clap,  Cook,  Curwen,  Parsons, 
Smith,  Pierce,  Snell ;  Hovey  uncertain.*  You  observe,  "  although 

*  Judge  Curwen  was  of  the  class  (thirty-eight  in  number)  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1735  ;  of  whom  it  seems  eight,  and  perhaps  nine,  were 
living  in  1795. 


1795.]  JOURNAL      AND     LETTERS.  419 

most  of  our  classmates  that  are  dead  and  gone  seemed  more  likely  to 
live  thanl"  etc. ;  on  which  I  remark,  it  is  a  subject  of  constant  obser 
vation  among  persons  of  thought  and  reflection,  to  which  by  expe 
rience  I  subscribe,  that  most  of  those  whose  health-promising  coun 
tenances,  lively  spirits,  and  great  bodily  strength  promise  long 
life,  are  most  commonly  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  life,  while  the  more 
feeble,  complaining,  and  those  frequently  confined  by  illness,  are 
continued  to  a  comparatively  long  life,  and  rendered  capable  of 
more  enjoyment  than  in  the  days  of  youth  and  middle  age,  of  which 
number  I  profess  myself  to  be  one.  Thanks  to  the  gracious  Being 
who  has,  in  mercy  I  hope,  lengthened  my  life  to  one  of  the  longest 
periods  in  these  days,  being  entered,  more  than  two  months,  in  my 
eightieth  year ;  which  I  presume  is  your  length  of  years. 

Agreeably  to  your  invitation,  I  shall,  when  the  roads  and  wea 
ther  prove  favorable  for  travelling,  continue  my  next  journey  as 
far  as  your  dwelling,  and  in  the  mean  time  I  remain,  with  due 
regards, 

Your  friend  and  well  wisher, 

S.  CUKWEX. 


SUPPLEMENT; 


CONTAINING 


ILLUSTRATIVE   DOCUMENTS, 


AND 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES  OF  INDIVIDUALS 


MENTIONED    IN    THE   FOREGOING   WORK. 


SUPPLE  At  E  N  T . 


ILLUSTRATIVE    DOCUMENTS. 


ADDRESS    OF    THE    MERCHANTS   AND    OTHERS    OF    BOSTON, 
TO    GOV.  HUTCHINSON. 

Boston,  May  30,  1774. 

We,  merchants  and  traders  of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  others, 
do  now  wait  on  you,  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  before  your 
departure  for  England,  to  testify,  for  ourselves,  the  entire  satisfac 
tion  we  feel  at  your  wise,  zealous,  and  faithful  administration,  dur 
ing  the  few  years  that  you  have  presided  at  the  head  of  this  province. 
Had  your  success  been  equal  to  your  endeavors,  and  to  the  warmest 
wishes  of  your  heart,  we  cannot  doubt  that  many  of  the  evils  under 
which  we  now  suffer,  would  have  been  averted,  and  that  tranquillity 
would  have  been  restored  to  this  long  divided  province ;  but  we 
assure  ourselves  that  the  want  of  success  in  those  endeavors  will 
not  abate  your  good  wishes  when  removed  from  us,  or  your  ear 
nest  exertions  still  on  every  occasion  to  serve  the  true  interest  of 
this  your  native  country. 

While  we  lament  the  loss  of  so  good  a  governor,  we  are  greatly 
relieved  that  his  Majesty,  in  his  gracious  favor,  hath  appointed  as 
your  successor  a  gentleman  who,  having  distinguished  himself  in 
the  long  command  he  hath  held  in  another  department,  gives  us 
the  most  favorable  prepossessions  of  his  future  administration. 

We  greatly  deplore  the  calamities  that  are  impending  and  will 
soon  fall  on  this  metropolis,  by  the  operation  of  a  late  act  of  Par 
liament  for  shutting  up  the  port  on  the  first  of  next  month.  You 


424  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 

cannot  but  be  sensible,  sir,  of  the  numberless  evils  that  will  ensue 
to  the  province  in  general,  and  the  miseries  and  distresses  into 
which  it  will  particularly  involve  this  town,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months.  Without  meaning  to  arraign  the  justice  of  the  British 
Parliament,  we  could  humbly  wish  that  this  act  had  been  couched 
with  less  rigor,  and  that  the  execution  of  it  had  been  delayed  to  a 
more  distant  time,  that  the  people  might  have  had  the  alternative 
either  to  have  complied  with  the  conditions  therein  set  forth,  or  to 
have  submitted  to  the  consequent  evils  on  refusal ;  but  as  it  now 
stands,  all  choice  is  precluded,  and  however  disposed  to  compliance 
or  concession  the  people  may  be;  they  must  unavoidably  suffer 
very  great  calamities  before  they  can  receive  relief.  Making  res 
titution  for  damage  done  to  the  property  of  the  East  India  Company, 
or  to  the  property  of  any  individual,  by  the  outrage  of  the  people, 
we  acknowledge  to  be  just ;  and  though  we  have  ever  disavowed, 
and  do  now  solemnly  bear  our  testimony  against  such  lawless  pro 
ceedings,  yet,  considering  ourselves  as  members  of  the  same  commu 
nity,  we  are  fully  disposed  to  bear  our  proportions  of  those  damages, 
whenever  the  sum  and  the  manner  of  laying  it  can  be  ascertained. 
We  earnestly  request  that  you,  sir,  who  know  our  condition,  and 
have  at  all  times  displayed  the  most  benevolent  disposition  towards 
us,  will,  on  your  arrival  in  England,  interest  yourself  in  our  behalf, 
and  make  such  favorable  representations  of  our  case,  as  that  we 
may  hope  to  obtain  speedy  and  effectual  relief. 

May  you  enjoy  a  pleasant  passage  to  England  j  and  under  all 
the  mortifications  you  have  patiently  endured,  may  you  possess  the 
inward  and  consolatory  testimonies  of  having  discharged  your  trust 
with  fidelity  and  honor,  and  receive  those  distinguishing  marks  of 
his  Majesty's  royal  approbation  and  favor,  as  may  enable  you  to 
pass  the  remainder  of  your  life  in  quietness  and  ease,  and  preserve 
your  name  with  honor  to  posterity. 

William  Blair,  John  Greenlaw, 

James  Selkrig,  Benjamin  Clark, 

Archibald  Wilson,  William  McAlpine, 

Jeremiah  Green,  Jonathan  Snelling, 

Samuel  H.  Sparhawk,  James  Hall, 

Joseph  Turill,  William  Dickson. 

Roberts  &  Co.,  John  Winslow,  jr., 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS 


425 


TheophilusLillie, 

Miles  Whitworth, 

James  McEwen, 

William  Codner, 

James  Perkins, 

John  White, 

Robert  Jarvis, 

William  Perry, 

James  &  Patrick  McMasters, 

William  Coffin, 

Simeon  Stoddard,  jr. 

John  Powell, 

Henry  Laughton, 

Eliphalet  Pond, 

M.B.  Goldthwait, 

Peter  Hughes, 

Samuel  Hughes, 

John  Semple, 

Hopestill  Capen, 

Edward  King, 

Byfield  Lynde, 

George  Lynde, 

A.  F.  Phipps, 

Rufus  Green, 

David  Phips, 

Richard  Smith, 

George  Spooner, 

Daniel  Silsby, 

William  Cazneau, 

James  Forrest, 

Edward  Cox, 

John  Berry, 

Richard  Hirons, 

Ziphion  Thayer. 

John  Joy, 

Joseph  Goldthwait, 

Samuel  Prince, 

Jonathan  Simpson, 

James  Boutineau, 

Nathaniel  Hatch, 

54 


Martin  Gay, 
Joseph  Scott, 
Samuel  Minot, 
Benjamin  M.  Holmes, 
Archibald  McNiel, 
George  Leonard, 
John  Borland, 
Joshua  Loring,  jr., 
William  Jackson, 
James  Anderson, 
David  Mitchelson, 
Abraham  Savage, 
James  Asby, 
John  Inman, 
John  Coffin, 
Thomas  Knight, 
Benjamin  Green,  jr. 
David  Green, 
Benjamin  Green, 
Henry  H.  Williams, 
James  Warden, 
Nathaniel  Coffin,  jr., 
Silvester  Gardiner, 
John  S.  Copley, 
Edward  Foster, 
Colbourn  Burrell, 
Nathaniel  Greenwood, 
William  Burton, 
John  Win  slow, 
Isaac  Winslow,  jr., 
Thomas  Oliver, 
Henry  Bloye, 
Benjamin  Davis, 
Isaac  Winslow, 
Lewis  Deblois, 
Thomas  Aylwin, 
William  Bowes, 
Gregory  Townsend, 
Francis  Green, 
Philip  Dumaresq, 


426  ILLUSTRATIVE    DOCUMENTS. 

Harrison  Gray,  Henry  Lyddell? 

Peter  Johonnot,  Nathaniel  Gary, 

George  Erving,  George  Brinley7 

Joseph  Green,  Richard  Lechmere, 

John  Vassal),  John  Erving,  jr», 

Nathaniel  Coffin,  Thomas  Gray, 

John  Timmins,  George  Bethune, 

William  Tailor,  Thomas  Apthorp, 

Thomas  Brinley,  Ezekial  Goldthwaite, 

Harrison  Gray,  jr.,  Benjamin  Gridleyy 

John  Taylor,  John  Atkinson, 

Gilbert  Deblois,  Ebenezer  Bridghara, 

Joshua  Winslow,  John  Gore, 

Daniel  Hubbard,     *  Adino  Paddock. 
Hugh  Turbett, 

ADDRESS  OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  MARBLEHEAD  TO  GOV, 
HUTCHINSON. 

Marblehead,  May  25,  1774. 

His  Majesty  having  been  pleased  to  appoint  his  Excellency  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Gage,  Esq.,  to  be  governor  and  commander-in-chief 
over  this  province,  and  you,  (as  we  are  informed,)  being  speedily 
to  embark  for  Great  Britain:  We,  the  subscribers,  merchants, 
traders,  and  others,  inhabitants  of  Marblehead,  beg  leave  to  present 
you  our  valedictory  address  on  this  occasion ;  and  as  this  is  the 
only  way  we  now  have  of  expressing  to  you  our  entire  approbation 
of  your  public  conduct  during  the  time  you  have  presided  in  this 
province,  and  of  making  you  a  return  of  our  most  sincere  and 
hearty  thanks  for  the  ready  assistance  which  you  have  at  all  times 
afforded  us,  when  applied  to  in  matters  which  affected  our  naviga 
tion  and  commerce,  we  are  induced  from  former  experience  of 
your  goodness,  to  believe  that  you  will  freely  indulge  us  in  the 
pleasure  of  giving  you  this  testimony  of  our  sincere  esteem  and 
gratitude. 

In  your  public  administration,  we  are  fully  convinced  that  the 
general  good  was  the  mark  which  you  have  ever  aimed  at,  and  we 
can,  sir,  with  pleasure  assure  you,  that  it  is  likewise  the  opinion  of 
all  dispassionate  thinking  men  within  the  circle  of  our  observation, 
notwithstanding  many  publications  would  have  taught  the  world  to 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  427 

think  the  contrary ;  and  we  beg  leave  to  entreat  you,  that  when 
you  arrive  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain,  you  would  there  embrace 
every  opportunity  of  moderating  the  resentment  of  the  government 
against  us,  and  use  your  best  endeavors  to  have  the  unhappy  dis 
pute  between  Great  Britain  and  this  country  brought  to  a  just  and 
equitable  determination. 

We  cannot  omit  the  opportunity  of  returning  you  in  a  particular 
manner  our  most  sincere  thanks  for  your  patronizing  our  cause  in 
the  matter  of  entering  and  clearing  the  fishing  vessels  at  the 
custom-house,  and  making  the  fishermen  pay  hospital  money ;  we 
believe  it  is  owing  to  your  representation  of  the  matter,  that  we 
are  hitherto  free  from  that  burden. 

We  heartily  wish  you,  sir,  a  safe  and  prosperous  passage  to 
Great  Britain,  and  when  you  arrive  there  may  you  find  such  a  re 
ception  as  shall  fully  compensate  for  all  the  insults  and  indignities 
which  have  been  offered  you. 

Henry  Saunders,  Nathan  Bowen, 

Richard  Hinkly,  Thomas  Robie, 

Samuel  Reed,  John  Stimson, 

John  Lee,  John  Webb, 

Robert  Ambrose,  Joseph  Lee, 

Jonathan  Glover,  Thomas  Lewis, 

Richard  Phillips,  Sweet  Hooper, 

Isaac  Mansfield,  Robert  Hooper, 

Joseph  Bubler,  Jacob  Fowle, 

Richard  Stacy,  John  Pedrick, 

Thomas  Procter,  Richard  Reed, 

John  Fowle,  Benjamin  Marston, 

Robert  Hooper,  3d,  Samuel  White, 

John  Gallison,  Joseph  Hooper, 

John  Prince,  John  Prentice, 

George  McCall,  Robert  Hooper,  jr. 
Joseph  Svvasey, 

ADDRESS  OF    THE    BARRISTERS  AND    ATTORNEYS  OF  MAS 
SACHUSETTS  TO  GOV.  HUTCHINSON,  MAY  30,  1774. 

A  firm  persuasion  of  your  inviolable  attachment  to  the  real 
interests  of  this  your  native  country,  and  of  your  constant  readiness, 
by  every  service  in  your  power,  to  promote  its  true  welfare  and 


428  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.. 

prosperity,  will,  we  flatter  ourselves,  render  it  not  improper  in  us, 
barristers  and  attorneys  at  law  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  to  address  your  Excellency  upon  your  removal  from  us,  with 
this  testimonial  of  our  sincere  respect  and  esteem. 

The  various  important  characters  of  Legislator,  Judge  and  first 
Magistrate  over  this  province,  in  which,  by  the  suffrages  of  your 
fellow-subjects,  and  by  the  royal  favor  of  the  best  of  kings,  your 
great  abilities,  adorned  with  a  uniform  purity  of  principle,  and  in 
tegrity  of  conduct,  have  been  eminently  distinguished,  must  excite 
the  esteem  and  demand  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  every 
true  lover  of  his  country,  and  friend  to  virtue. 

The  present  perplexed  state  of  our  public  affairs,  we  are  sensi 
ble,  must  render  your  departure  far  less  disagreeable  to  you  than  it 
is  to  us,— we  assure  you,  sir,  we  feel  the  loss ;  but  when,  in  the 
amiable  character  of  your  successor,  we  view  a  fresh  instance  of 
the  paternal  goodness  of  our  most  gracious  sovereign ;  when  we 
reflect  on  the  probability  that  your  presence  at  the  court  of  Great 
Britain,  will  afford  you  an  opportunity  of  employing  your  interests 
more  successfully  for  the  relief  of  this  province,  and  particularly  of 
the  town  of  Boston,  under  their  present  distresses,  we  find  a  conso 
lation  which  no  other  human  source  could  afford.  Permit  us,  sir, 
most  earnestly  to  solicit  the  exertion  of  all  your  distinguished 
abilities  in  favor  of  your  native  town  and  country,  upon  this  truly 
unhappy  and  distressing  occasion. 

We  sincerely  wish  you  a  prosperous  voyage,  a  long  continua 
tion  of  health  and  felicity,  and  the  highest  rewards  of  the  good 
and  faithful. 

We  are,  sir,  with  the  most  cordial  affection,  esteem  and 
respect, 

Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servants, 

Robert  Achmuty,  Andrew  Cazneau, 

Jonathan  Sewall,  Daniel  Leonard, 

Samuel  Fitch,  John  Lowell, 

Samuel  Quincy,  Daniel  Oliver, 

William  Pynchon,  Sampson  S.  Blowers, 

James  Putnam,  Shearjashub  Brown, 

Benjamin  Gridley,  Daniel  Bliss, 

Abel  Willard,  Samuel  Porter, 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  429 

David  Ingersoll,  John  Sprague, 

Jeremiah  D.  Rogers,  Rufus  Chandler, 

David  Gorham,  Thomas  Danforth, 

Samuel  Sewall,  Ebenezer  Bradish. 

From  the  Essex  Gazette  of  June  14,  1774. 

MESSRS.  HALL  : 

As  it  is  generally  known  that  an  Address  from  the  Merchants, 
Traders  and  others,  in  the  town  of  Salem,  to  the  late  Governor 
Hutchinson,  was  signed  by  numbers  of  gentlemen  belonging  to  the 
town ;  and  it  being  as  well  known  that  his  Excellency  gave  his 
answer  to  the  same,  it  remains  now  a  matter  of  great  speculation, 
especially  amongst  those  of  the  town  of  Boston  who  were  foremost 
in  promoting  a  plan  so  apparently  beneficial  in  the  present  exigency 
of  affairs  in  this  province,  what  sufficient  reason  can  be  assigned 
by  the  subscribers,  (contrary  to  the  very  design  of  such  an  address,) 
for  then  not  making  it  public.  Many  conjectures  might  be  admitted 
upon  this  matter,  not  to  the  honor  of  the  concerned,  which  we 
shall  omit  for  the  present.  Yours, 

Z.Y.    : 

From  the  Essex  Gazette  of  June  1,  1775. 

Salem,  May  30,  1775. 

Whereas  wre  the  subscribers  did  some  time  since  sign  an  address 
to  Governor  Hutchinson,  which,  though  prompted  to  by  the  best 
intentions,  has,  nevertheless,  given  great  offence  to  our  country : 
We  do  now  declare,  that  \ve  were  so  far  from  designing  by  that 
action,  to  show  our  acquiescence  in  those  acts  of  Parliament  so 
universally  and  justly  odious  to  all  America,  that  on  the  contrary, 
we  hoped  we  might  in  that  way  contribute  to  their  repeal ;  though 
now  to  our  sorrow  we  find  ourselves  mistaken.  And  we  do  now 
further  declare,  that  we  never  intended  the  offence  which  this  ad 
dress  has  occasioned ;  that  if  we  had  foreseen  such  an  event  we 
should  never  have  signed  it ;  as  it  always  has  been  and  now  is  our 
wish  to  live  in  harmony  with  our  neighbors,  and  our  serious  de 
termination  is  to  promote  to  the  utmost  of  our  power  the  liberty, 
the  welfare,  and  happiness  of  our  country,  which  is  inseparably 
connected  with  our  own. 


430  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 

John  Nutting,  E.  A.  Holyoke, 

N.  Goodale,  William  Pynchon, 

Ebenezer  Putnam,  Thomas  Barnard, 

Francis  Cabot,  Nathaniel  Dabney, 

N.  Sparhawk,  William  Pickman, 

Andrew  Dalglish,  C.  Gayton  Pickman. 

In  Committee  of  Safety,  Salem,  May  30,  1775.— The  declar 
ation,  of  which  the  above  is  a  copy,  being  presented  and  read,  it 
was  voted  unanimously  that  the  same  was  satisfactory  ;  and  that 
the  said  gentlemen  ought  to  be  received  and  treated  as  real  friends 
to  this  country. 

By  order  of  the  Committee, 

RICHARD  DERBY,  JR.,  Chairman. 

In  the  same  paper  of  June  1,  1775,  immediately  following  the 
above,  is  a  communication  to  the  Committee  of  Safety,  from  the 
late  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard,  dated  May  25,  1775  : — 

GENTLEMEN  : 

A  suspicion  of  being  inimical  to  those  with  whom  we  are  con 
nected  in  society,  and  whom  we  esteem  and  love,  cannot  but  give 
severe  pain  to  a  generous  mind.  Unhappily,  I  have  been  viewed 
by  my  countrymen  in  a  light  so  disagreeable.  The  address  which 
I  signed  to  Governor  Hutchinson  upon  his  leaving  this  province,  I 
signed  with  no  party  views,  with  no  design  whatever  of  injuring 
that  country  with  the  prosperity  of  which  my  dearest  human  in 
terests  are  closely  connected,  but  with  strong  hopes  of  promoting 
the  lasting  peace  and  welfare  of  my  native  land.  But  I  own,  my 
fond  expectations  arising  therefrom  have  been  disappointed.  The 
cause  of  America  I  look  upon  capable  of  full  defence  by  the  voice 
of  justice  and  the  British  constitution;  and  shall  be  ever  ready  to 
support  it  in  that  way  which  the  united  wisdom  of  the  continent 
shall  dictate. 

Such  are  my  sentiments,  and  upon  the  strength  of  them  I  would 
request  of  my  countrymen  to  throw  the  veil  of  charity  and  forgive 
ness  over  any  incautious  action  of  mine,  which  may  have  led  them 
to  think  unfavorably  of  me,  and  to  grant  me  a  place  in  their 
esteem,  which  I  shall  ever  think  myself  happy  in  deserving. 

THOMAS  BARNARD,  JR. 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  431 

In  Committee  of  Safety,  Salem,  May  25,  1775.— The  declara 
tion,  of  which  the  above  is  a  copy,  being  presented  and  read,  it  was 
voted  unanimously  that  the  same  was  satisfactory ;  and  that  the 
said  gentleman  ought  to  be  received  and  treated  as  a  real  friend  to 
his  country. 

By  order  of  the  Committee, 

RICHARD  DERBY,  JR.,  Chairman. 

From  the  Essex  Gazette,  June  14,  1774. 

Last  Saturday,  (June  llth,  1774,)  the  following  address  was 
presented  to  his  Excellency  the  Governor  : — 

To  his  Excellency  Thomas  Gage,  Esq.,  Captain-General,  Governor 

and   Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts 

Bay  in  New  England,  and  Lieutenant-General  of  his  Majesty's 

Forces. 
May  it  please  your  Excellency  : 

We,  merchants  and  others,  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  town  of 
Salem,  beg  leave  to  approach  your  Excellency  with  our  most 
respectful  congratulations  on  your  arrival  in  this  place. 

We  are  deeply  sensible  of  his  Majesty's  paternal  care  and 
affection  to  this  province,  in  the  appointment  of  a  person  of  your 
Excellency's  experience,  wisdom  and  moderation,  in  these  trouble 
some  and  difficult  times. 

We  rejoice  that  this  town  is  graciously  distinguished  for  that 
spirit,  loyalty,  and  reverence  for  the  laws,  which  is  equally  our  glory 
and  happiness. 

From  that  public  spirit  and  warm  zeal  to  promote  the  general 
happiness  of  men,  which  mark  the  great  and  good,  we  are  led  to 
hope  under  your  Excellency's  administration  for  every  thing  that 
may  promote  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  real  welfare  of  this  pro 
vince. 

We  beg  leave  to  commend  to  your  Excellency's  patronage  the 
trade  and  commerce  of  this  place,  which,  from  a  full  protection  of 
the  liberties,  persons  and  properties  of  individuals,  cannot  but 
flourish. 

And  we  assure  your  Excellency  we  will  make  it  our  constant 
endeavors  by  peace,  good  order,  and  a  regard  for  the  laws,  as  far 
as  in  us  lies,  to  render  your  station  and  residence  easy  and  happv. 


432 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 


John  Sargent, 
Jacob  Ashton, 
William  Wetmore, 
James  Grant, 
Henry  Higginson, 
David  Britton, 
P.  G.  Kast, 
Weld  Gardner, 
Nathaniel  Daubney, 
Richard  Nicholls, 
William  Cabot, 
Cabot  Gerrish, 
William  Gerrish, 
Rowland  Savage, 
William  Lilly, 
Jonathan  Goodhue, 
Nathan  Goodale, 
William  Pickman, 
C.  Gayton  Pickman, 
Nathaniel  Sparhawk, 
William  Vans, 
Timothy  Orne, 
Richard  Routh, 
Stephen  Higginson, 


John  Prince, 
George  Deblois, 
Andrew  Dalglish, 
Joseph  Blaney, 
Archelaus  Putnam, 
Samuel  Porter, 
Thomas  Poynton, 
Samuel  Flagg, 
Benjamin  Lynde, 
William  Browne, 
John  Turner, 
P.  Frye, 
Francis  Cabot, 
William  Pynchon, 
John  Fisher, 
John  Mascarene, 
E.  A.  Holyoke, 
Jos.  Bowditch, 
Ebenezer  Putnam, 
S.  Curwen, 
John  Nutting, 
Jos.  Dowse, 
Benjamin  Pickman, 
Henry  Gardner. 


THT  "  LOYAL  ADDRESS  FROM  THE  GENTLEMEN  AND  PRINCIPAL  INHAB 
ITANTS  OF  BOSTON  TO  GOVERNOR  GAGE  ON  HIS  DEPARTURE  FOR 
ENGLAND,  OCTOBER  6,  1775,"  WAS  SIGNED  AS  FOLLOWS  : 


John  Erving, 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  jr., 
Silvester  Gardiner, 
Wm.  Bowes, 
John  Timmins, 
Nathaniel  Coffin, 
John  Winslow,  jr., 
Alexander  Bymer, 
Robert  Hallowell, 
Robert  Jarvis, 
David  Phips, 


John  Tayler, 
Archibald  McNeal, 
Francis  Green, 
Benjamin  Davis, 
John  Sampson, 
William  Tayler, 
John  Inman, 
Wm.  Perry, 
John  Gore, 
Isaac  Winslow, jr., 
Thomas  Courtney, 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 


433 


John  Love, 
Hugh  Tarbett, 
Nathaniel  Perkins, 
John  Powell, 
James  Selkrig, 
Archibald  Cunningham, 
William  Cazneau, 
David  Barton, 
John  Semple, 
Henry  Lawton, 
William  Brattle. 
John  Troutbeck, 
Stephen  Greenleaf, 
William  Walter, 
James  Perkins, 
Phillip  Dumaresque, 
Joshua  Loring,  jr., 
Henry  Lloyd, 
William  Lee  Perkins, 
George  Leonard, 
Thomas  Brinley, 
Daniel  Hubbard, 
Samuel  Fitch, 
John  Atkinson, 
Joseph  Turill, 
Samuel  Hirst  Sparhawk, 
Ebenezer  Brigham, 
William  Codner, 
Jonathan  Snelling, 
Benjamin  Gridley, 
Gilbert  Deblois, 
Edward  Hutchinson, 
Miles  Whitworth, 
Daniel  McMasters, 
John  Hunt,  3d, 
James  Lloyd, 
William  McAlpine, 
John  Greecart, 


William  Dickerson, 
William  Hunter, 
Robert  Semple, 
John  Joy, 

Gregory  Townsend, 
Isaac  Winslow, 
Byfield  Lyde, 
Richard  Clarke, 
Benjamin  Fanieul,  jr., 
Thomas  Amory, 
George  Brindley, 
Ralph  Inman, 
Edward  Winslow, 
Benjamin  M.  Holmes, 
William  Jackson, 
Richard  Green, 
James  Murray, 
Joseph  Scott, 
Peter  Johonnot, 
Nathaniel  Gary, 
Martin  Gay, 
Samuel  Hughes, 
William  Coffin,  jr., 
Adino  Paddock, 
Andrew  Cazneau, 
Henry  Lindall, 
Theophilus  Liilie, 
Henry  Barnes, 
M.  B.  Goldthwait, 
Lewis  Gray, 
Nathaniel  Brinley, 
John  Jeffries,  jr., 
Archibald  Bowman, 
Jonathan  Simpson, 
Nathaniel  Tayler, 
James  Anderson, 
Lewis  Deblois, 


55 


434  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 

THE  LOYAL  ADDRESS  TO  GOVERNOR  GAGE  ON  HIS  DEPARTUTE,  OCTOBER 
14,  1775,  OF  THOSE  GENTLEMEN  WHO  WERE  DRIVEN  FROM  THEIR 
HABITATIONS  IN  THE  COUNTRY  TO  THE  TOWN  OF  BOSTON,  WAS 
SIGNED  BY  THE  FOLLOWING  PERSONS  : 

John  Chandler,  Jonathan  Stearns, 

James  Putnam,  Ward  Chipman, 

Peter  Oliver,  sen.,  William  Chandler, 

Seth  Williams,  jr.,  Thomas  Foster, 

Charles  Curtis,  Pelham  Winslow, 

Samuel  Pine,  Daniel  Oliver, 

David  Phips,  Edward  Win  slow,  jr., 

Richard  Saltonstall,  Nathaniel  Chandler, 

Peter  Oliver,  jr,,  James  Putnam,  jr. 

CONSPIRACY   ACT. 

An  Act  to  confiscate  the  estates  of  certain  notorious  conspirators 
against  the  government  and  liberties  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  late 
province,  now  state,  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

Whereas  the  several  persons  hereinafter  mentioned,  have  wick 
edly  conspired  to  overthrow  and  destroy  the  constitution  and  gov 
ernment  of  the  late  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  as  established 
by  the  charter  agreed  upon  by  and  between  their  late  majesties 
William  and  Mary,  late  King  and  Queen  of  England,  etc.,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  said  province,  now  state,  of  Massachusetts  Bay ;  and 
also  to  reduce  the  said  inhabitants  under  the  absolute  power  and 
domination  of  the  present  king,  and  of  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  and,  as  far  as  in  them  lay,  have  aided  and  assisted  the 
same  king  and  parliament  in  their  endeavors  to  establish  a  despotic 
government  over  the  said  inhabitants  : 

Sect.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  in  General  Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
same,  that  Francis  Bernard,  baronet,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Esq., 
late  governor  of  the  late  province,  now  state,  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  Thomas  Oliver,  Esq.,  late  lieutenant  governor,  Harrison 
Grey,  Esq.,  late  treasurer,  Thomas  Flucker,  Esq.,  late  secretary, 
Peter  Oliver,  Esq.,  late  chief  justice,  Foster  Hutchinson,  John  Er 
ring,  jr.,  George  Erving,  William  Pepperell,  baronet,  James 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  435 

Boutineau,  Joshua  Loring,  Nathaniel  Hatch,  "William  Browne, 
Richard  Lechmere,  Josiah  Edson,  Nathaniel  Rea  Thomas,  Timo 
thy  Ruggles,  John  Murray,  Abijah  Willard,  and  Daniel  Leonard, 
Esqs.,  late  mandamus  counsellors  of  said  late  province,  William 
Burch,  Henry  Hulton,  Charles  Paxon,  and  Benjamin  Hallowell, 
Esqs.,  late  commissioners  of  the  customs,  Robert  Auchmuty,  Esq., 
late  judge  of  the  vice-admiralty  court,  Jonathan  Sewall,  Esq.,  late 
attorney  general,  Samuel  Quincy,  Esq.,  late  solicitor  general, 
Samuel  Fitch,  Esq.,  solicitor  or  counsellor  at  law  to  the  board  of 
commissioners,  have  justly  incurred  the  forfeiture  of  all  their  prop 
erty,  rights  and  liberties,  holden  under  and  derived  from  the  govern 
ment  and  laws  of  this  state  ;  and  that  each  and  every  of  the  persons 
aforenamed  and  described,  shall  be  held,  taken,  deemed  and  ad 
judged  to  have  renounced  and  lost  all  civil  and  political  relation 
to  this  and  the  other  United  States  of  America,  and  be  considered 
as  aliens. 

Sect.  2.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  all  the 
goods  and  chattels,  rights  and  credits,  lands,  tenements,  and  hered 
itaments  of  every  kind,  of  which  any  of  the  persons  herein  before 
named  and  described,  were  seized  or  possessed,  or  were  entitled  to 
possess,  hold,  enjoy,  or  demand,  in  their  own  right,  or  which  any- 
other  person  stood  or  doth  stand  seized  or  possessed  of,  or  are  or 
were  entitled  to  have  or  demand  to  and  for  their  use,  benefit  and 
behoof,  shall  escheat,  enure  and  accrue  to  the  sole  use  and  benefit 
of  the  government  and  people  of  this  state,  and  are  accordingly 
hereby  declared  so  to  escheat,  enure  and  accrue,  and  the  said  gov 
ernment  and  people  shall  be  taken,  deemed  and  adjudged,  and  are 
accordingly  hereby  declared  to  be  in  the  real  and  actual  possession 
of  all  such  goods,  chattels,  rights  and  credits,  lands,  tenements  and 
hereditaments,  without  further  inquiry,  adjudication  or  determina 
tion  hereafter  to  be  had  ;  any  thing  in  the  act,  entitled,  "  An  act 
for  confiscating  the  effects  of  certain  persons  commonly  called  ab 
sentees,"  or  any  other  law,  usage,  or  custom  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding  ;  provided  always,  that  the  escheat  shall  not  be 
construed  to  extend  to  or  operate  upon,  any  goods,  chattels,  rights, 
credits,  lands,  tenements  or  hereditaments,  of  which  the  persons 
afore  named  and  described,  or  some  other,  in  their  right  and  to 
their  use,  have  not  been  seized  or  possessed,  or  entitled  to  be  seized 


436  ILLUSTRATIVE  DOCUMENTS. 

or  possessed,  or  to  have  or  demand  as  aforesaid,  since  the  nineteenth 
day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-five. — [Passed  April  30,  1779.  Not  revised,'] 


STATE    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

An  Act  for  confiscating  the  estates  of  certain  persons  commonly 

called  absentees. 

Whereas  every  government  hath  a  right  to  command  the  per 
sonal  services  of  all  its  members,  whenever  the  exigencies  of  the 
state  shall  require  it,  especially  in  times  of  an  impending  or  actual 
invasion,  no  member  thereof  can  then  withdraw  himself  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  government,  and  thereby  deprive  it  of  the  bene 
fit  of  his  personal  services,  without  justly  incurring  the  forfeiture 
of  all  his  property,  rights  and  liberties,  holden  under  and  derived 
from  that  constitution  of  government,  to  the  support  of  which  he  hath 
refused  to  afford  his  aid  and  assistance  :  and  whereas  the  king  of 
Great  Britain  did  cause  the  parliament  thereof  to  pass  divers  acts 
in  direct  violation  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  the  people  of  this 
and  of  the  other  United  States  of  America ;  particularly  one  cer 
tain  act  to  vacate  and  annul  the  charter  of  this  government,  the 
great  compact  made  and  agreed  upon  between  his  royal  predeces 
sors  and  our  ancestors ;  and  one  other  act,  declaring  the  people  of 
said  states .  to  be  out  of  his  protection  ;  and  did  also  levy  war 
against  them,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  and  establishing  an  arbi 
trary  and  despotic  government  over  them ;  whereupon  it  became 
the- indispensable  duty  of  all  the  people  of  said  states  forthwith  to 
unite  in  defence  of  their  common  freedom,  and  by  arms  to  oppose 
the  fleets  and  armies  of  the  said  king ;  yet  nevertheless,  divers  of 
the  members  of  this  and  of  the  other  United  States  of  America, 
evilly  disposed,  or  regardless  of  their  duty  towards  their  country, 
did  withdraw  themselves  from  this,  and  other  of  the  said  United 
States,  into  parts  and  places  under  the  acknowledged  authority  and 
dominion  of  the  said  king  of  Great  Britain,  or  into  parts  and  places 
within  the  limits  of  the  said  states,  but  in  the  actual  possession  and 
under  the  power  of  the  fleets  or  armies  of  tha  said  king ;  thereby 
abandoning  the  liberties  of  their  country,  seeking  the  protection  of 
the  said  king,  and  of  his  fleets  or  armies,  and  aiding  or  giving  en- 


ILLUSTRATIVE      DOCUMENTS.  437 

couragement  and  countenance  to  their  operations  against  the  Uni 
ted  States  aforesaid : 

Sect.  1.     Be  it  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  in  General  Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  same,  that  every  inhabitant  and  member  of  the  late  province, 
now  state,  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  or  of  any  other  of  the  late  prov 
inces  or  colonies,  now  United  States  of  America,  who,  since  the 
nineteenth  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five,  hath  levied  war  or  conspired  to  levy  war 
against  the  government  and  people  of  any  of  the  said  provinces  or 
colonies,  or  United  States ;  or  who  hath  adhered  to  the  said  king 
of  Great  Britain,  his  fleets  or  armies,  enemies  of  the  said  provinces 
or  colonies  or  United  States,  or  hath  given  to  them  aid  or  comfort; 
or  who,  since  the  said  nineteenth  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five,  hath  withdrawn,  without 
the  permission  of  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  of  this  or 
some  other  of  the  said  United  States,  from  any  of  the  said  prov 
inces  or  colonies,  or  United  States,  into  parts  and  places  under  the 
acknowledged  authority  and  dominion  of  the  said  king  of  Great 
Britain,  or  into  any  parts  or  places  within  the  limits  of  any  of  the 
said  provinces,  colonies,  or  United  States,  being  in  the  actual  pos 
session  and  under  the  power  of  the  fleets  or  armies  of  the  said 
king  ;  or  who,  before  the  said  nineteenth  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five,  and  after  the  arrival 
of  Thomas  Gage,  Esq.,  (late  commander-in-chief  of  all  his  Britan 
nic  Majesty's  forces  in  North  America,)  at  Boston,  the  metropolis  of 
this  state,  did  withdraw  from  their  usual  places  of  habitation  within 
this  state,  into  the  said  town  of  Boston,  with  an  intention  to  seek 
and  obtain  the  protection  of  the  said  Thomas  Gage  and  of  the  said 
forces,  then  and  there  being  under  his  command ;    and  who  hath 
died  in  any  of  the  said  parts  or  places,  or  hath  not  returned  into 
some  one  of  the  said  United  States,  and  been  received  as  a  subject 
thereof,  and  (if  required)   taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  such 
states,  shall  be  held,  taken,  deemed  and  adjudged  to  have  freely 
renounced  all  civil  and  political  relation  to  each  and  every  of  the 
said  United  States,  and  be  considered  as  an  alien. 

Sect.  2.     And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  all  the  goods  and  'chattels,  rights  and  credits,  lands,  tenements, 


438  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 

hereditaments  of  every  kind,  of  which  any  of  the  persons  herein 
before  described  were  seized  or  possessed,  or  were  entitled  to  pos 
sess,  hold,  enjoy  or  demand,  in  their  own  right,  or  which  any  other 
person  stood  or  doth  stand  seized  or  possessed  of,  or  are  or  were 
entitled  to  have  or  demand  to  and  for  their  use,  benefit  and  be 
hoof,  shall  escheat,  enure  and  accrue  to  the  sole  use  and  benefit  of 
the  government  and  people  of  this  state,  and  are  accordingly  here 
by  declared  so  to  escheat,  enure  and  accrue. — [Passed  Jipril  30, 
1779.  Not  revised.'] 

MANDAMUS   COUNSELLORS. 

Salem,  Jlug.  9,  1774.  The  following  were  appointed  by  his 
majesty,  counsellors  of  this  province  by  writ  of  mandamus,*  viz  : — 

Col.  Thomas  Oliver,  Lieut.  Governor,  President ;  Peter  Oliver, 
Thomas  Flucker,  Foster  Hutchinson,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Jr. 
Harrison  Gray,  Judge  Samuel  Danforth,  Col.  John  Erving,  Jr. 
James  Russell,  Timothy  Haggles,  Joseph  Lee,  Isaac  Winslow,  Israel 
Williams,  Col.  George  Watson,  Nathaniel  Ray  Thomas,  Timothy 
Woodbridge,  William  Vassall,  William  Browne,  Joseph  Greene, 
James  Boutineau,  Andrew  Oliver,  Col.  Josiah  Edson,  Richard 
Lechmere,  Commodore  Joshua  Loring,  John  Worthington,  Timo 
thy  Paine,  William  Pepperell,  Jeremiah  Powell,  Jonathan  Simp 
son,  Col.  John  Murray,  Daniel  Leonard,  Thomas  Palmer,  Col. 
Isaac  Royall,  Robert  Hooper,  Abijah  Willard,  Capt.  John  Er 
ving,  jr. 

STATE    OF   MASSACHUSETTS. 

An  Act  to  prevent  the  return  to  this  state  of  certain  persons 
therein  named,  and  others  who  have  left  this  state  or  either  of 
the  United  States,  and  joined  the  enemies  thereof. 

Whereas  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Esq.,  late  governor  of  this  state, 
Francis  Bernard,  Esq.,  formerly  governor  of  this  state,  Thomas 
Oliver,  Esq.,  late  lieutenant  governor  of  this  state,  Timothy  Rug- 
gles,  Esq.,  of  Hardwick,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  William  Ap- 
thorp,  merchant,  Gibbs  Atkins,  cabinet  maker,  John  Atkinson,  John 
Amory,  James  Anderson,  Thomas  Apthorp,  David  Black,  William 
Burton,  William  Bowes,  George  Brindley,  Robert  Blair,  Thomas 
Brindley,  James  Barrick,  merchant,  Thomas  Brattle,  Esq.,  Samp- 

*  Those  whose  names  are  in  italics  alone  took  the  oath  of  office. 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  439 

C.jt-^*^*' 

son  Salter  Blowers,  Esq>,  James  Bruce,  Ebenezer  Bridgham,  Alex 
ander  ^Brymer,  Edward  Berry,  merchants,  William  Burch,  Esq., 
late  commissioner  of  the  customs,  Mather  Byles,  Jun.,  clerk,  Wil 
liam  Codner,  book-keeper,  Edward  Cox,  merchant,  Andrew 
Gazneau,  Esq.,  barrister  at  law,  Henry  Canner,  clerk,  Thomas 
Courtney,  tailor,  Richard,  Clark,  Esq.,  Isaac  Clark,  physician, 
Benjamin"  Church,  physician,  John  Coffin,  distiller,  John  Clark, 
physician,  William  Coffin,  Esq.,  Nathaniel  Coffin,  Esq.,  Jonathan 
Clark,  merchant,  Archibald  Cunningham,  shop-keeper,  Gilbert 
Deblois,  merchant,  Lewis  Deblois,  merchant,  Philip  Dumaresque, 
merchant,  Benjamin  Davis,  merchant,  John  Erving,  Jun.,  Esq., 
George  Erving,  Esq.,  Edward  Foster  and  Edward  Foster,  Jun., 
blacksmiths,  Benjamin  Faneuil,  Jun.,  merchant,  Thomas  Flucker, 
Esq.,  late  secretary  for  Massachusetts  Bay,  Samuel  Fitch,  Esq., 
Wilfret  Fisher,  carter,  James  Forrest,  merchant,  Lewis  Gray,  mer 
chant,  Francis  Green,  merchant,  Joseph  Green,  Esq.,  Sylvester 
Gardiner,  Esq.,  Harrison  Gray,  Esq.,  late  treasurer  of  Massachu 
setts  Bay,  Harrison  Gray,  Jun.,  clerk  to  the  treasurer,  Joseph 
GoldthWait,  Esq.,  Martin  Gay,  founder,  John  Gore,  Esq.,  Benjamin 
Hallowell,  Esq.,  Robert  HalTowell,  Esq.,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Jun., 
Esq.,  Benjamin  Gridley,  Esq.,  Frederick  William  Geyer,  merchant, 
John  Greenlaw,  shop-keeper,  David  Green,  merchant,  Elisha 
Hutchinson,  Esq.,  James  Hall,  mariner,  Foster  Hutchinson,  Esq., 
Benjamin  Mulbury  Holmes,  distiller,  Samuel  Hodges,  book-keeper, 
Henry  Halson,  Esq.,  Hawes  Hatch,  wharfinger,  John  Joy,  house- 
wright,  Peter  Johonnot,  distiller,  WTilliam  Jackson,  merchant,  John 
Jeffries,  physician,  Henry  Laughton,  merchant,  James  Henderson, 
trader,  John  Hinston,  yeoman,  Christopher  Hatch,  mariner,  Robert 
Jarvis,  mariner,  Richard  Lechmere,  Esq.,  Edward  Lyde,  merchant, 
Henry  Lloyd,  Esq.,  George  Leonard,  miller,  Henry  Leddle,  book 
keeper,  Archibald  McNeil,  baker,  Christopher  Minot,  tide-waiter, 
James  Murray,  Esq.,  William  McAlpine,  bookbinder,  Thomas 
Mitchell,  mariner,  William  Martin,  Esq.,  John  Knutton,  tallow- 
chandler,  Thomas  Knight,  shop-keeper,  Samuel  Prince,  merchant, 
Adino  Paddock,  Esq.,  Charles  Paxon,  Esq.,  Sir  William  Pepperell, 
baronet,  John  Powell,  Esq.,  William  Lee  Perkins,  physician,  Na 
thaniel  Perkins,  Esq.,  Samuel  Quincy,  Esq.,  Owen  Richards,  tide-, 
waiter,  Samuel  Rogers,  merchant,  Jonathan  Simpson,  Esq.,  George 


440  ILLUSTRATIVE  DOCUMENTS. 

Spooner,  merchant,  Edward  Stowe,  mariner,  Richard  Smith,  mer 
chant,  Jonathaii  Snelling,  Esq.,  David  Silsby,  trader,  Samuel  Sew- 
all,  Esq.,  Abraham  Savage,  tax-gatherer,  Joseph  Scott,  Esq., 
Francis  Skinner,  clerk  to  the  late  council,  William  Simpson,  mer 
chant,  Richard  Sherwin,  saddler,  Henry  Smith,  merchant,  John 
Semple,  merchant,  Robert  Semple,  merchant,  Thomas  Selkrig, 
merchant,  James  Selkrig,  merchant,  Robert  Service,  trader,  Simon 
Tufts,  trader,  Arodi  Thayer,  late  marshal  to  the  admiralty  court, 
Nathaniel  Taylor,  deputy  naval  officer,  John  Troutbeck,  clerk, 
Gregory  Townsend,  Esq.,  William  Taylor,  merchant,  WTilliam 
Vassal,  Esq.,  Joseph  Taylor,  merchant,  Joshua  UpKam,  Esq., 
William  WTalter,  clerk,  Samuel  Waterhouse,  merchant,  Isaac 
Winslow,  merchant,  John  Winslow,  jr.,  merchant,  David  Willis, 
mariner,  Obadiah  Whiston,  blacksmith,  Archibald  W7ilson,  trader, 
John  W7hite,  mariner,  William  Warden,  peruke-maker,  Nathaniel 
Mills,  John  Hicks,  John  Howe,  and  John  Fleming,  printers,  all  of 
Boston,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  Robert  Auchmuty,  Esq.,  Joshua 
Loring,  Esq.,  both  of  Roxbury,in  the  same  county,  Samuel  Golds- 
bury,  yeoman,  of  WTrentham,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  Joshua 
Loring,  jr.,  merchant,  Nathaniel  Hatch,  Esq.,  both  of  Dorchester, 
in  the  same  county,  William  Brown,  Esq.,  Benjamin  Pickraan, 
Esq.,  Samuel  Porter,  Esq.,  John  Sargeant,  trader,  all  of  Salem,  in 
the  county  of  Essex,  Richard  Saltonstall,  Esq.,  of  Haverhill,  in  the 
same  county,  Thomas  Robie,  trader,  Benjamin  Marston,  merchant, 
both  of  Marblehead,  in  said  county  of  Essex,  Moses  Badger,  clerk, 
of  Haverhill,  aforesaid,  Jonathan  Sewall,  Esq.,  John  Vassal,  Esq., 
David  Phipps,  Esq.,  John  Nutting,  carpenter,  all  of  Cambridge,  in 
the  county  of  Middlesex,  Isaac  Royall,  Esq.,  of  Medford,  in  the 
same  county,  Henry  Barnes,  of  Marlborough,  in  said  county  of 
Middlesex,  merchant,  Jeremiah  Dummer  Rogers,  of  Littleton  in  the 
same  county,  Esq.,  Daniel  Bliss,  of  Concord,  in  the  said  county  of 
Middlesex,  Esq.,  Charles  Russell,  of  Lincoln,  in  the  same  county, 
physician,  Joseph  Aclams,  of  Townsend,  in  said  county  of  Middle 
sex,  Thomas  Danforth,of  Charlestown,  in  said  county,  Esq.,  Joshua 
Smith,  trader,  of  Townsend,  in  said  county,  Joseph  Ashley,  jr., 
gentleman,  of  Sunderland,  Nathaniel  Dickenson,  gentleman,  of 
Deerfield,  Samuel  Bliss,  shopkeeper,  of  Greenfield,  Roger  Dicken 
son,  yeoman,  Joshah  Pomroy,  physician,  and  Thomas  Cutler. 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  441 

gentleman,  of  Hatfield,  Jonathan  Bliss,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Wil 
liam  Galway,  yeoman^of  Conway,  Elijah  Williams,  attorney  at 
law,  of  Deerfield,  James  Oliver,  gentleman,  of  Conway,  all  in  the 
county  of  Hampshire,  Pelham  Winslow,  Esq.,  Cornelius  White, 
mariner,  Edward  Winslow,  jr.,  Esq.,  all  of  Plymouth,  in  the  county 
of  Plymouth,  Peter  Oliver,  Esq.,  Peter  Oliver,  jr.,  physician,  both 
of  Middleborough,  in  the  same  county,  Josiah  Edson,  Esq.,  of 
Bridgewater,  in  the  said  county  of  Plymouth,  Lieutenant  Daniel 
Dunbar,  of  Halifax,  in  the  same  county,  Charles  Curtis,  of  Scitu- 
ate,  in  the  said  county  of  Plymouth,  gentleman,  Nathaniei  Ray 
Thomas,  Esq.,  Israel  Tilden,  Caleb  Carver,  Seth  Bryant,  Benjamin 
Walker,  Gideon  ^Walker,  Zera  Walker,  Adam  Hall,  tertius,  Isaac 
Joice,  Joseph  Phillips,  Daniel  White,  jr.,  Cornelius  White,  tertius, 
Melzar  Carver,  Luke  Hall,  Thomas  Decrow,  John  Baker,  jr.,  all 
of  Marshfield,  in  the  said  county  of  Plymouth,  Gideon  White,  jr., 
Daniel  Leonard,  Esq.,  Seth  Williams,  jr.,  gentleman,  Solomon 
Smith,  boatman,  all  of  Taunton,  in  the  county  of  Bristol,  Thomas 
Gilbert,  Esq.,  Perez  Gilbert,  Ebenezer  Hathaway,  jr.,  Lot  Strange, 
the  third,  Zebedee  Terree,  Bradford  Gilbert,  all  of  Freetown,  in 
the  same  county,  Joshua  Broomer,  Shadrach  Hathaway,  Calvin 
Hathaway,  Luther  Hathaway,  Henry  Tisdel,  William  Burden, 
Levi  Chace,  Shadrach  Chase,  Richard  Holland,  Ebenezer  Phillips, 
Samuel  Gilbert,  gentleman,  Thomas  Gilbert,  jr.,  yeoman,  both  of 
Berkley,  in  the  said  county  of  Bristol,  Ammi  Chace,  Caleb  Whea- 
ton,  Joshua  Wilbore,  Lemuel  Bourn,  gentleman,  Thomas  Perry, 
yeoman,  David  Atkins,  laborer,  Samuel  Perry,  mariner,  Stephen 
Perry,  laborer,  John  Blackwell,  jr.,  laborer,  Francis  Finney,  la 
borer,  and  Nehemiah  Webb,  mariner,  all  of  Sandwich,  in  the 
county  of  Barnstable,  Eldad  Tupper,  of  Dartmouth,  in  the  county 
of  Bristol,  laborer,  Silas  Perry,  laborer,  Seth  Perry,  mariner,  Eli — 
sha  Bourn,  gentleman,  Thomas  Bumpus,  yeoman,  Ephraim  ElJis, 
jr.,  yeoman,  Edward  Bourn,  gentleman,  Nicholas  Cobb,  laborer, 
William^Bourn,  cordwainer,  all  of  Sandwich,  in  the  county  of 
Barnstable,  and  Seth  Bancrs,  of  Harwich,  in  the  county  of  Barn- 
stable,  mariner,  John  Chandler,  Esq.,  James  Putnam,  Esq.,  Rufus 
Chandler,  gentleman,  William  Paine,  physician,  AdanT  Walker, 
blacksmith,  William  Chandler,  gentleman,  all  of  Worcester,  in  the 
county  of  Worcester,  John  Walker,  gentleman,  David  Bush,  yeo- 

56 


442  ILLUSTRATIVE      DOCUMENTS. 

man,  both  of  Shrewsbury,  in  the  same  county,  Abijah  Willard, 
Esq.,  Abel  Willard,  Esq.,  Joseph  House,  yeoman,  all  of  Lancaster, 
in  the  said  county  of  Worcester,  Ebenezer  Cutler,  trader,  James 
Edgar,  yeoman,  both  of  Northbury,  in  the  same  county,  Daniel  Ol 
iver,  Esq.,  Richard  Ruggles,  yeoman,  Gardner  Chandler,  trader, 
Joseph  Ruggles,  gentleman,  Nathaniel  Ruggles,  yeoman,  all  of 
Hardwick,  in  the  said  county  of  Worcester,  John  Ruggles,  yeo 
man,  of  said  Hardwick,  John  Eager,  yeoman,  Ebenezer  Whipple, 
Israel  Conkay,  John  Murray,  Esq.,  of  Rutland,  in  said  county  of 
Worcester,  Daniel  Murray,  gentleman,  Samuel  Murray,  gentle 
man,  Michael  Martin,  trader,  of  Brookfield,  in  the  said  county  of 
Worcester,  Thomas  Beaman,  gentleman,  of  Petersham,  in  the  same 
county,  Nathaniel  Chandler,  gentleman,  John  Bo  wen,  gentleman, 
of  Princeton,  in  the  said  county  of  Worcester,  James  Crage,  gen 
tleman,  of  Oakham,  in  the  same  county,  Thomas  Mullins,  black 
smith,  of  Leominster,  in  the  said  county  of  Worcester,  Francis 
Waldo,  Esq.,  Arthur  Savage,  Esq.,  Jeremiah  Pote,  mariner,  Thom 
as  Ross,  mariner,  James  Wildridge,  mariner,  George  Lyde,  cus 
tom  house  officer,  Robert  Pagan,  merchant,  Thomas  Wyer,  mari 
ner,  Thomas  Coulson,  merchant,  John  Wisw  all,  .clerk,  Joshua 
Eldridge,  mariner,  Thomas  Oxnard,  merchant,  Edward  Oxnard, 
merchant,  William  Tyng,  Esq.,  John  Weight,  merchant,  Samuel 
Longfellow,  mariner,  all  of  Falmouth,  in  the  county  of  Cumber 
land,  Charles  Callahan,  of  Pownalborough,  in  the  county  of  Lin 
coln,  mariner,  Jonas  Jones  of  East  Hoosuck,  in  the  county  of 
Berkshire,  David  Ingersoll,  of  Great  Barrington,  Esq.,  in  the  same 
county,  Jonathan  Prindall,  Benjamin  Noble,  Francis  Noble,  Elisha 
Jones,  of  Pittsfield^in^the  said  county  of  Berkshire,  John  Graves, 
yeoman,  Daniel '  Brewer,  yeoman,  both  of  Pittstield,  aforesaid, 
Richard  Square,  of  Lanesborough,  in  the  said  county  of  Berkshire, 
Ephraim  Jones,  of  East  Hoosuck,  in  the  same  county,  Lewis  Hub- 
bel,  and  many  other  persons  have  left  this  state,  or  some  other  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  joined  the  enemies  thereof  and 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  thereby  not  only  depriving  these 
states  of  their  personal  services  at  a  time  when  they  ought  to  have 
afforded  their  utmost  aid  in  defending  the  said  states,  against  the 
invasions  of  a  cruel  enemy,  but  manifesting  an  inimical  disposition 
to  the  said  states,  and  a  design  to  aid  and  abet  the  enemies  thereof 


ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS.  443 

in  their  wicked  purposes,  and  whereas  many  dangers  may  accrue 
to  this  state  and  the  United  States,  if  such  persons  should  be  again 
admitted  to  reside  in  this  state  : 

SECT.  1.  Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives,  in  general  court  assembled,  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  same,  that  if  either  of  the  said  persons,  or  any  other  person, 
though  not  specially  named  in  this  act,  who  have  left  this  state,  or 
either  of  said  states,  and  joined  the  enemies  thereof  as  aforesaid, 
shall,  after  the  passing  this  act,  voluntarily  return  to  this  state,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  of  the  selectmen, 
committees  of  correspondence,  safety,  and  inspection,  grand  jurors, 
constables,  and  tythingmen,  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town 
wherein  such  person  or  persons  may  presume  to  come,  and  they 
are  hereby  respectively  empowered  and  directed  forthwith  to  appre 
hend  and  carry  such  person  or  persons  before  some  justice  of  the 
peace  within  the  county,  who  is  hereby  required  to  commit  him  or 
them  to  the  common  gaol  within  the  county,  there  in  close  custody 
to  remain  until  he  shall  be  sent  out  of  the  state,  as  is  hereinafter 
directed  ;  and  such  justice  is  hereby  directed  to  give  immediate  in 
formation  thereof  to  the  board  of  war  of  this  state :  and  the  said 
board  of  war  are  hereby  empowered  and  directed  to  cause  such 
person  or  persons  so  committed,  to  be  transported  to  some  part  or 
place  within  the  dominions,  or  in  the  possession  of  the  forces  of  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  as  soon  as  may  be  after  receiving  such  in 
formation  ;  those  who  are  able,  at  their  own  expense,  and  others 
at  the  expense  of  this  state,  and  for  this  purpose  to  hire  a  vessel 
or  vessels,  if  need  be. 

SECT.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  if  any  person  or  persons,  who  shall  be  transported  as  aforesaid, 
shall  voluntarily  return  into  this  state,  without  liberty  first  had  and 
obtained  from  the  general  court,  he  shall,  on  conviction  thereof 
before  the  superior  court  of  judicature,  court  of  assize  and  general 
gaol  delivery,  suffer  the  pains  of  death  without  benefit  of  clergy. — 
{Passed,  September,  1778.]  • 

WORCESTER  RESOLUTIONS  RELATING  TO  THE  ABSENTEES 
AND  REFUGEES. 

The  following  votes  were  passed  by  the  citizens  of  Worcester, 


444  ILLUSTRATIVE     DOCUMENTS. 

May  19,  1783,  and  contain  the  substance  of  their  doings  relative 
to  the  refugees  : 

Voted, — That  in  the  opinion  of  this  town,  it  would  be  ex 
tremely  dangerous  to  the  peace,  happiness,  liberty  and  safety  of 
these  states,  to  suffer  those,  who,  the  moment  the  bloody  banners 
were  displayed,  abandoned  their  native  land,  turned  parricides,  and 
conspired  to  involve  their  country  in  tumult,  ruin  and  blood,  to 
become  the  subjects  of  and  reside  in  this  government ;  that  it 
would  be  not  only  dangerous,  but  inconsistent  with  justice,  policy, 
our  past  laws,  the  public  faith,  and  the  principles  of  a  free  and 
independent  state,  to  admit  them  ourselves,  or  have  them  forced 
upon  us  without  our  consent. 

Voted, — That  in  the  opinion  of  this  town,  this  commonwealth 
ought,  with  the  utmost  caution,  to  naturalize  or  in  any  other  way 
admit  as  subjects  a  common  enemy,  a  set  of  people  who  have  been 
by  the  united  voice  of  the  continent,  declared  outlaws,  exiles, 
aliens  and  enemies,  dangerous  to  its  political  being  and  happiness. 

Voted, — That  while  there  are  thousands  of  the  innocent,  peace 
able  and  defenceless  inhabitants  of  these  states,  whose  property 
has  been  destroyed  and  taken  from  them  in  the  course  of  the  war, 
for  whom  no  provision  is  made,  to  whom  there  is  no  restoration  of 
estates,  no  compensation  for  losses ;  that  it  wrould  be  unreasonable, 
cruel  and  unjust,  to  suffer  those  who  were  the  wicked  occasior,  of 
those  losses,  to  obtain  a  restitution  of  the  estates  they  refused  to 
protect,  and  which  they  have  abandoned  and  forfeited  to  their 
country. 

Voted, — That  it  is  the  expectation  of  this  town,  and  the 
earnest  request  of  their  committees  of  correspondence,  inspection 
and  safety,  that  they,  with  care  and  diligence,  will  observe  the 
movements  of  our  only  remaining  enemies ;  that  until  the  further 
order  of  government,  they  will,  with  decision,  spirit  and  firmness, 
endeavor  to  enforce  and  carry  into  execution  the  several  laws  of 
this  commonwealth,  respecting  these  enemies  to  our  rights,  and  the 
rights  of  mankind ;  give  information,  should  they  know  of  any 
obtruding  themselves  into  any  part  of  this  state,  suffer  none  to 
remain  in  this  town,  but  cause  to  be  confined  immediately,  for 
the  purpose  of  transportation  according  to  law,  any  that  may 
presume  to  enter  it. 


"* 


**?• 


NOTICES  OF    THE    CURWENS. 


GEORGE  CURWIN,  the  first  of  the  name  in  New  England,  came, 
as  stated  in  the  introduction,  from  Workington,  Cumberland,  Eng 
land,  where  he  was  born  December  10,  1610,  and  where,  says 
Camden,  "  is  the  stately,  castle-like  seat  of  this  ancient,  knightly 
family."  He  settled  at  Salem,  and  in  company  with  the  celebrated 
Hugh  Peters  laid  the  foundation  of  the  mercantile  enterprise  of 
Salem,  and  first  commenced  building  vessels  in  that  port ;  he  was 
afterwards  extensively  engaged  in  commerce  during  the  whole  of 
his  long  life.  His  books  of  account,  and  his  mercantile  correspond 
ence  with  Sir  William  Peake,  (lord  mayor  of  London  in  1666,) 
show  that  he  had  embarked  in  the  London  trade  previous  to  the 
year  1658.  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  Bentley  thus  notices  him  in  his  Sketch 
of  Salem,  published  in  the  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  His 
torical  Society,  in  1800:— "This  year  (1685)  Salem  lost  another 
eminent  man,  Capt.  George  Curwin,"who  came  here  in  1638  with 
his  family,  and  was  rich.  He  was  often  engaged  in  town  affairs, 
and  commanded  a  troop  of  horse.  He  was  also  a  representative 
in  the  general  court.  There  is  a  three-quarter  portrait  of  him  in 
the  hands  of  Samuel  Curwen,  Esq.,*  son  of  the  Rev.  George  Cur- 
win,  and  his  great-grandson.  He  had  a  fine  round  forehead,  large 
nostrils,  high  cheek  bones,  and  gray  eyes.  His  dress  a  wrought- 
flowing  neckcloth,  a  sash  covered  with  lace,  a  coat  with  short 
cuffs  and  reaching  half  way  between  the  wrist  and  elbow,  the 
shirt  in  plaits  below ;  an  octagon  ring  and  cane,  which  still 
remain." 

He  died  on  the  3d  of  January,  1685,  leaving  no  debts,  and  one 
of  the  largest  estates  that  had  been  administered  upon  in  the  colony, 
which  was  inventoried  at  only  <£5,964  195.  7d.,  but  comprised  be 
sides  the  homestead,  four  dwelling-houses,  four  warehouses,  and 
two  wharves  in  Salem  ;  three  farms  in  the  vicinity,  containing  fif 
teen  hundred  acres ;  a  warehouse  and  wharf  in  Boston ;  the  ketches 

*  Author  of  the  foregoing  journal. — ED. 


446  NOTICES     OF     THE     CUR  WENS. 

George,  Swallow,  John,  and  William,  valued  at  .£1050;  in  mer 
chandise  £2,232 ;  in  gold  and  silver  coin  .£93  Is.  Od.,  in  English 
and  New  England  money,  and  621  ounces  of  plate.  Among  the 
wearing  apparel  inventoried,  are  a  silver-laced  cloth  coat,  a  velvet 
ditto,  a  satin  waistcoat,  embroidered  with  gold,  a  troping  scarf  and 
hat  band,  golden  topped  and  embroidered  gloves,  and  a  silver- 
headed  cane,  which  still  remains. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  estate,  Capt.  Curwin's  widow  Eliza 
beth,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Herbert  Pelham,  one  of  the 
council  of  assistants,  and  also  sister-in-law  of  Governor  Josiah 
Winslow,  of  Plymouth  colony,  claimed  some  plate  given  her  by 
the  lord  mayor,  by  her  father,  and  by  the  governor;  together  with 
eight  pounds  in  gold  which  her  husband  had  received  from  Mr.  Pope, 
being  the  "produce"  of  an  Indian  boy  sent  her  by  the  governor  and 
council  from  Plymouth. 

His  five  daughters  married  Hon.  James  Russell  and  Edward 
Lynde,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  William  Browne,  jr.,  Esq.,  and  Josiah 
Wolcott,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  and  President  Wadsworth  of  Harvard 
College. 

Annexed  is  a  view  of  the  house  erected  by  Capt.  Curwin,  in 
1642,  still  standing  at  the  corner  of  Essex  and  North  streets.  It 
was  altered  by  the  late  Richard  WTard,  Esq.,  about  seventy  years 
ago,  and  his  daughter  (the  present  occupant,  to  whom  it  has 
descended)  is  the  last  survivor  of  the  fifth  generation  from  the  ori 
ginal  owner ;  her  granddaughter,  who  resides  with  her,  is  of  the 
seventh  generation  of  the  family  born  in  it.  The  unfortunate  per 
sons  arrested  during  the  witchcraft  delusion  were  examined  in  this 
house  by  Justices  Corwin  and  Hathorne,  before  being  committed. 

Capt.  JOHN  CORWIN,  the  eldest  son,  was  born  in  Salem,  July  28, 
1638.  He  became  a  merchant,  and  was  elected  deputy  to  the 
general  court,  from  Salem,  where  he  resided.  He  married  Mar 
garet,  third  daughter  of  John  Winthrop,  jr.,  governor  of  Connecti 
cut,  in  May,  1665 ;  her  mother  was  the  only  child  of  the  famous 
Hugh  Peters,  who  suffered  with  the  regicides  at  the  restoration  of 
the  monarchy,  in  London,  in  1660.  Capt.  Corwin  died  in  1683, 
leaving  an  only  son,  George,  born  February,  1666.  The  latter,  who 
married  Susannah,  and  afterwards  Lydia,  daughters  of  the  Hon. 
Bartholomew  Gedney,  of  the  provincial  council,  is  the  Captain 


NOTICES    OF     THE     CUEWENS.  447 

Corwin  mentioned  in  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts,  in  the 
expedition  against  Canada,  under  Sir  William  Phips,  in  1690.  He 
was  unfortunately  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Essex  in  1692,  and  for 
officiating  during  the  witchcraft  delusion.,  was  severely  persecuted 
by  the  friends  of  the  sufferers,  till  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1696. 

BARTHOLOMEW  CORWIN,  the  only  son  of  the  last  mentioned 
George,  removed  to  Amwell,  Hunterdon  county,  New  Jersey,  and 
married  Esther  Burt ;  he  had  four  sons,  viz.,  George,  John,  Joseph, 
and  Samuel,  and  died  May  9,  1747.  Samuel  Corwin,  of  Amwell, 
a  grandson  of  Bartholomew,  informed  the  editor  in  1822,  that  the 
books  and  papers  left  by  his  grandfather  were  destroyed,  with  other 
movables,  during  the  revolutionary  war,  when  his  uncle  Joseph 
removed  to  Canada,  and  the  family  of  his  uncle  George,  who  died 
in  1780,  removed  to  Kentucky.  Probably  Governor  Corwin  of 
Ohio  is  a  descendant  of  this  branch.  He  also  informed  the  editor 
that  John  Corwin,  a  great  grandson  of  Bartholomew,  was  living  at 
Baltimore. 

HON.  JONATHAN  CORWIN,  second  son  of  the  first  mentioned 
George,  was  born  at  Salem,  Nov.  14,  1640.  He  commenced  his 
public  career  as  a  deputy  to  the  general  court,  and  the  following 
extract  from  the  records  of  Salem,  shows  much  confidence  in  him ; 
and  at  the  same  time  the  action  of  that  town  towards  re-establish 
ing  a  government  under  the  venerable  Bradstreet,  in  opposition  to 
the  tyranny  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros  : — "  May  7,  1689.  Captain 
John  Prince  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Corwin  were  chosen  to  assist  in  the 
council  at  Boston,  to  be  held  on  the  9th  inst. ;  and  we  desire  that 
the  honorable  the  governor,  the  magistrates,  and  deputies  chosen 
in  the  year  1686,  would  (having  always  due  respect  to  our  de 
pendence  on  the  crown  of  England,  and  the  obligation  we  are 
under  by  the  late  declaration  before  the  surrender  of  the  last 
government)  reassume  our  charter  government,  by  taking  their 
places  and  forming  a  general  court  as  soon  as  possible ;  unto  which, 
we  shall  readily  and  cheerfully  subject  ourselves,  and  be  always 
assisting  to  the  utmost  of  our  power  with  our  lives  and  estates  as 
formerly." 

Mr.  Corwin  was  named  a  provincial  counsellor  in  the  charter 
of  1691,  and  served  until  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  supreme 


448  NOTICES    OF     THE    CURWENS. 

court  in  1702  ;  the  latter  office  he  resigned  in  consequence  of  ill 
health,  in  1715.  He  died  in  July,  1718,  leaving  a  widow;  the 
daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Gibbs  of  Dorsetshire,  whose  estate  was 
sequestrated  in  1648,  during  the  revolution.  Of  their  children, 
Anne  died  in  youth ;  Elizabeth  married  James  Lindall,  Esq.,  of 
Salem ;  and  George,  born  in  1682,  who  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
college  in  1701.  He  prepared  himself  for  the  church,  and  was 
ordained  and  settled  in  that  of  his  ancestors  in  Salem ;  the  first 
founded  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  He  is  thus  noticed 
in  the  historical  collections  of  Massachusetts,  as  copied  from  the 
records  of  the  church  : — 

"  Died,  at  Salem,  Nov.  23,  1717,  the  Rev.  George  Curwin,  in 
the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  fourth  of  his  ordained 
ministry.  He  was  highly  esteemed  in  his  life,  and  very  deservedly 
lamented  at  his  death ;  having  been  very  eminent  for  his  early  im 
provement  in  learning  and  piety,  his  singular  abilities  and  great 
labors,  his  remarkable  zeal  and  faithfulness.  He  was  a  great  bene 
factor  to  our  poor." 

There  is  a  good  half-length  portrait  of  him  in  the  gallery  of 
the  Essex  Historical  Society.  He  married  Mehitable  Parkman  ; 
and  their  sons  were  Samuel,  author  of  the  foregoing  Journal,  born 
in  1715 ;  and  George,  bom  in  1717.  The  latter  graduated  at 
Harvard  college  in  1735,  and  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  with 
success,  until  interrupted  by  hostilities  with  France ;  which  induced 
him  to  join  in  the  expedition  against  Louisburg.  His  commission 
as  commissary,  bears  the  signature  of  Governor  Shirley,  and  is 
dated  February  1,  1745.  He  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Pickman,  Esq.,  of  Salem ;  and  died  in  the  prosecution  of  a  mer 
cantile  enterprise  at  St.  Eustatia,  in  1746.  His  children  were, 
George,  born  in  1739,  who  early  embarked  in  commerce,  and  was 
drowned  while  on  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  in  1761 ;  Sarah, 
who  died  unmarried;  and  Mehitable,  who  married  the  late  Richard 
Ward,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  and  died  in  1813,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two. 

The  late  Samuel  Curwen  Ward,  Jr.,  a  grandson  of  the  last 
mentioned,  at  the  request  of  Judge  Curwen,  took  his  name,  by  an 
act  of  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts ;  and  the  three  sons  of  the 
former  are  all  that  now  bear  that  name  in  New  England. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES. 


GEN.  PEPPERELL. 

GENERAL  SIR  WILLIAM  PEPPERELL,  Baronet,  was  born  at 
Kittery  Point,  Maine,  in  1696.  His  father,  Col.  William  Pep- 
perell,  a  native  of  Cornwall,  England,  settled  in  1676  at  the 
Isles  of  Shoals,  where  he  was  for  many  years  extensively  en 
gaged  in  the  fishing  business.  After  acquiring  considerable  prop 
erty,  he  removed  to  Kittery  Point,  and  erected  there  a  large  man 
sion  house,  now  standing,  where  he  died  on  the  15th  February, 
1734,  opulent  and  well  esteemed.  One  of  his  daughters  married 
the  Hon.  John  Newmarch ;  the  other  died  in  1766,  having  suc 
cessively  married  Hon.  John  Frost,  Rev.  Dr.  Colman,  and  Rev. 
Benjamin  Prescott,  all  of  whom  she  survived.  Sir  William  was 
his  only  son,  and  about  the  year  1727  was  chosen  a  member  of  his 
majesty's  council  for  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  to  which  he 
was  annually  re-elected  until  his  death,  a  period  of  thirty-two 
years.  With  a  vigorous  frame,  firm  mind,  and  great  coolness  when 
in  danger,  he  was  well  fitted  for  his  residence  in  a  country  exposed 
to  a  ferocious  enemy,  and  soon  attained  the  rank  of  colonel. 

When  the  expedition  against  Louisburg  was  contemplated, 
all  eyes  were  turned  to  him,  then  president  of  the  council,  and  he 
was  commissioned  by  the  governors  of  New  England  to  that  all- 
important  command,  oft  the  31st  January,  1745.  He  furnished 
this  motto  for  the  flag,  which  gave  the  enterprise  the  air  of  a  cru 
sade  :  "  Nil  desperandum  Christo  duce."  He  invested  the  city  in 
the  beginning  of  May,  and  articles  of  capitulation  were  signed  in 
July.  After  this  important  and  brilliant  achievement,  by  command 
of  his  majesty  he  repaired  to  England  and  received  a  colonelcy  in 
the  army,  from  which  he  wras  raised  to  be  a  major-general  in  1755, 
and  a  lieutenant-general  in  1759.  Besides  the  dignity  of  a  baronet, 
which  was  conferred  upon  him,  he  obtained  the  thanks  of  the  min 
istry,  and  peculiar  tokens  of  respect  from  several  of  the  royal 
family.  His  affability  gained  him  friends  among  all  classes,  and 
his  manners  were  rot  affected  by  his  exaltation.  The  welfare  of 
his  country  alone  could  have  taken  him  from  his  domestic  enjoy- 

57 


450  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES. 

ments  and  the  head  of  the  provincial  council,  to  the  fatigues  of  the 
camp  and  to  doubtful  victory.  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
Grove  Hirst,  a  granddaughter  of  Chief  Justice  Sewall.  Their  only 
son  Andrew,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1743,  and  died 
March  1,  1751,  aged  twenty-five  ;  and  their  only  daughter  Eliza 
beth  married  Col.  Nathaniel  Sparhawk,  member  of  the  council  of 
Massachusetts.  Sir  William's  dress  was  in  the  expensive  style  of 
his  day,  scarlet  cloth  trimmed  with  gold  lace  ;  portraits  of  him  and 
Lady  Mary  are  preserved  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  there  is  a  full 
length  of  him  in  the  gallery  of  the  Essex  Historical  Society,  at 
Salem,  Mass.  Sir  William  died  at  his  seat  in  Kittery,  (near  Ports 
mouth,)  June  6, 1759,  aged  sixty-three ;  and  Lady  Mary  on  the  25th 
November,  1789.  Her  natural  and  acquired  powers  were  highly,  re 
spectable,  and  she  was  admired  for  her  wit  and  suavity  of  manner. 
Sir  WTilliam  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  William  P.  Spar- 
hawk,  who  assumed  his  name,  and  was  created  a  baronet ;  he  was 
a  loyalist  in  the  revolution,  and  died  in  London,  December,  17, 
1816,  when  the  title  became  extinct. 

GOV.  SHIRLEY. 

WILLIAM  SHIRLEY,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  native  of 
England,  and  was  bred  to  the  law.  After  his  arrival  at  Boston, 
about  the  year  1733,  he  practised  in  his  profession,  till  he  received 
his  commission  as  governor,  in  1741,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Belcher. 
He  planned  the  successful  expedition  against  Cape  Breton,  in  1745 ; 
but,  while  his  enterprising  spirit  deserves^commendation,  some  of 
his  schemes  did  not  indicate  much  skill  in  the  arts  of  navigation 
and  war.  He  went  to  England  in  1745,  leaving  Spencer  Phips, 
the  lieutenant-governor,  commander-in-chief,  but  returned  in 
1753.  In  1754,  he  held  a  treaty  with  the  eastern  Indians,  and 
explored  the  Kennebec,  erecting  two  or  three  forts.  In  1755,  be 
ing  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  he  planned 
an  expedition  against  Niagara,  and  proceeded  himself  as  far  as 
Oswego.  In  June,  1756,  he  was  superseded  in  the  command  of 
the  army  by  Abercrombie.  He  embarked  for  England  in  Septem 
ber,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Pownall.  After  having  been  for  a 
number  of  years  governor  of  one  of  the  Bahama  islands,  he  returned 
to  Massachusetts,  and  died  at  his  seat  in  Roxbury,  March  24, 1771. 
Though  he  held  several  of  the  most  lucrative  offices  within  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  451 

gift  of  the  crown  in  America,  yet  he  left  no  property  to  his  chil 
dren.  The  abolition  of  the  paper  currency  was  owing*  in  a  great 
degree  to  his  firmness  and  perseverance.  His  penetration  and  un 
remitting  industry  gained  him  a  high  reputation.  But  it  was 
thought  that,  as  a  military  officer,  he  was  not  sufficiently  active  in 
seizing  the  moment  for  success.  During  his  administration,  Eng 
land  became  acquainted  with  the  importance  of  this  country,  and 
the  colonists  learned  to  fight.  Governor  Shirley  published  Electra, 
a  tragedy,  and  Birth  of  Hercules,  a  mask,  1765. 

COL.  MOULTON. 

COLONEL  JEREMIAH  MOULTON  was  born  in  York,  Maine,  in  1688, 
and  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians,  January  22, 1692,  old  style, 
when  York  was  destroyed  by  the  Indians.  He  was  released,  with 
other  children,  in  gratitude  for  the  humanity  of  Colonel  Church, 
who  in  one  of  his  expeditions  had  released  several  Indian  prisoners, 
old  women  and  children.  The  savages  were  not  ungrateful  for 
acts  of  kindness.  In  August,  1724,  he  and  Captain  Harmon  with 
two  hundred  and  eight  men,  and  three  Mohawk  Indians,  marched 
against  the  Indian  settlement  at  Norridgewock,  in  consequence  of 
attacks  upon  the  frontiers.  There  being  four  companies,  the  other 
commanders  were  Captain  Bourne  and  Lieut.  Bean.  They  left 
Richmond  fort  August  8,  old  style,  or  August  19 ;  the  next  day 
arrived  at  Taconic  Falls  on  the  Kennebec,  where  they  left  their 
boats  and  a  guard  of  forty  men.  August  21,  they  marched  by 
land,  and  in  the  evening  fired  upon  two  Indians,  who  proved  to  be 
the  daughter  and  wife  of  Bomaseen  ;  the  former  was  killed,  the 
latter  taken  prisoner.  August  23,  they  approached  the  village; 
Harmon  with  eighty  men  marching  circuitously  by  the  fields,  and 
Moulton  with  eighty  men  directly  upon  Norridgewock,  which  he 
surprised.  The  Indians,  consisting  of  about  sixty  warriors,  were 
defeated,  and  the  chapel  and  village  destroyed.  Father  Halle  was 
killed  in  a  wigwam,  and  twenty-six  Indians,  among  whom  were 
Bomaseen,  and  his  son-in-law  Mog,  also  Job,  Canabesett,  and 
Wissememet,  all  noted  warriors.  One  of  the  Mohawks  was  killed, 
but  none  of  the  whites.  Harmon  carried  the  scalps  to  Boston,  and 
having  been  chief  in  command,  was  made  a  lieutenant-colonel  for 
the  exploit  of  Moulton,  who  obtained  no  reward.  At  the  reduction 
of  Louisburg  in  1745,  he  commanded  a  regiment,  and  was  after- 


452  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

wards  sheriff  of  the  county,  councillor,  and  judge  of  the  common 
pleas  and  of  probate.  He  died  at  York,  July  20,  1765,  aged  77. 
His  son  and  grandson  were  sheriffs  of  York  county. 

COL.  VAUGHAN. 

LIEUT.  COL.  WILLIAM  VAUGHAN  served  under  General  Pepperell, 
in  the  expedition  against  Louisburg,  in  1745 ;  although  he  refused 
any  regular  command,  he  made  himself  highly  useful  during  the 
whole  siege  by  his  advice  in  councils,  vigilance  in  reconnoitering  the 
enemy,  and  promptitude  while  in  command  of  perilous  enterprises. 

He  died  in  London,  December,  1746,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
where  he  went  to  press  his  claim  for  the  above  service.  The  imme 
diate  paternal  ancestor  of  Col.  Vaughan,  was  Major  William 
Vaughan,  who  came  from  England  about  the  middle  of  the  seven 
teenth  century,  and  settled  at  Portsmouth,  where  he  became  a 
wealthy  merchant.  He  died  in  1720.  His  son  George  was  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  Hampshire  ;  bom  in  1668,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1696.  Afterwards  agent  for  the  province,  and  on  the 
accession  of  George  I.  was  appointed  lieutenant-governor  in  1715 ; 
he  died  December,  1725.  His  son  William,  the  subject  of  the 
above,  was  born  at  Portsmouth,  Sept.  12,  1703.  He  had  settled 
at  Damariscotta,  thirteen  miles  below  fort  Pemaquid,  and  his  men 
were  employed  in  fishing.  Here  he  conceived  the  idea  of  the  cap 
ture  of  Louisburg,  repaired  to  Boston,  and  conferred  with  Governor 
Shirley  upon  the  subject ;  proposing  that  it  should  be  taken  by 
surprise  by  going  over  the  walls  in  winter  upon  drifts  of  snow. 

COL.  GRIDLEY. 

COL.  RICHARD  GRIDLEY  was  born  in  Boston,  1711.  After  serv 
ing  as  an  engineer  at  the  reduction  of  Louisburg,  in  1745,  he  en 
tered  the  army  as  colonel  of  infantry  and  chief-engineer,  in  1755. 
Under  Winslow  he  wras  concerned  in  the  expedition  to  Crown 
Point,  1756,  and  constructed  the  fortifications  on  Lake  George. 
He  served  under  Amherst  in  1758,  and  was  with  Wolfe  on  the 
plains  of  Abraham,  the  following  year.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  revolution,  he  was  appointed  chief-engineer,  and  skilfully  laid 
out  the  works  in  fortification  of  Breed's  Hill,  the  day  before  the 
battle  of  June  17,  1775,  in  which  he  was  wounded.  He  died  at 
Stoughton,  June  20,  1796. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  453 

GOV.  BERNARD. 

SIR  FRANCIS  BERNARD.  Bart.,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  arrived 
in  the  province  from  New  Jersey,  as  successor  to  Governor  Pownall, 
August  2,  1760,  and  continued  at  the  head  of  the  government 
nine  years.  His  administration  was  during  one  of  the  most  inter 
esting  periods  in  American  history.  He  had  governed  New  Jersey 
two  years,  in  a  manner  very  acceptable  to  that  province  ;  and  the 
first  part  of  his  administration  in  Massachusetts  was  very  agreeable 
to  the  general  court.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  Canada  was  surren 
dered  to  Amherst.  Much  harmony  prevailed  for  two  or  three 
years,  but  this  prosperous  and  happy  commencement  did  not  con 
tinue  ;  there  had  long  been  two  parties  in  the  province, — the 
advocates  for  the  crown,  and  the  defenders  of  the  rights  of  the 
people.  Governor  Bernard  was  soon  classed  with  those  who  were 
desirious  of  strengthening  the  royal  authority  in  America ;  the 
sons  of  liberty,  therefore,  stood  forth  uniformly  in  opposition  to 
him.  His  indiscretion  in  appointing  Mr.  Hutchinson  chief-justice, 
instead  of  giving  that  office  to  Colonel  Otis  of  Barnstable,  to  whom 
it  had  been  promised  by  Shirley,  proved  very  injurious  to  his  cause. 
In  consequence  of  this  appointment  he  lost  the  influence  of  Colonel 
Otis ;  and  by  yielding  himself  to  Mr.  Hutchinson,  he  drew  upon 
him  the  hostility  of  James  Otis,  the  son,  a  man  of  great  talents ; 
who  soon  became  the  leader  on  the  popular  side.  The  laws  for 
the  regulation  of  trade,  and  the  exactions  of  the  officers  of  customs, 
were  the  first  things  which  greatly  agitated  the  public  mind  j  and 
afterwards  the  stamp  act  increased  the  energy  of  resistance  to  the 
schemes  of  tyranny.  Governor  Bernard  possessed  no  talent  for 
conciliating ;  he  was  for  accomplishing  ministerial  purposes  by 
force  ;  and  the  spirit  of  freedom  gathered  strength  from  the  open 
manner  in  which  he  attempted  to  crush  it.  His  speech  to  the 
general  court  after  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  was  by  no  means 
calculated  to  assuage  the  angry  passions  that  had  lately  been  ex 
cited.  He  was  the  principal  means  of  bringing  the  troops  to 
Boston,  that  he  might  overawe  the  people  ;  and  it  was  owing  to 
him  that  they  were  continued  in  the  town.  This  measure  had 
been  proposed  by  him  and  Mr.  Hutchinson,  long  before  it  was 
executed.  While  he  professed  himself  a  friend  to  the  province, 
he  was  endeavoring  to  undermine  its  constitution,  and  to  obtain  an 


454  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

essential  alteration  in  the  charter,  by  transferring  from  the  general 
court  to  the  crown  the  right  of  electing  the  council.  His  conduct, 
though  it  drew  upon  him  the  indignation  of  the  province,  was  so 
pleasing  to  the  ministry,  that  he  was  created  a  baronet,  March  20, 
1769.  Sir  Francis  had  too  little  command  of  his  temper ;  he 
could  not  conceal  his  resentments,  nor  could  he  restrain  his 
censures.  One  of  his  last  public  measures  was  to  prorogue  the 
general  court  in  July,  in  consequence  of  their  refusing  to  make 
provision  for  the  support  of  the  troops.  The  general  court,  how 
ever,  before  they  were  prorogued,  embraced  the  opportunity  of 
drawing  up  a  petition  to  his  majesty  for  the  removal  of  the 
governor.  It  was  found  necessary  to  recall  him ;  and  he  embarked, 
August  1,  1769,  leaving  Mr.  Hutchinson,  the  lieutenant-governor, 
commander-in-chief.  There  were  few  who  lamented  his  departure ; 
he  died  in  England,  June,  1779. 

If  a  man  of  greater  address  and  wisdom  had  occupied  the  place 
of  Sir  Francis,  it  is  very  probable  our  revolution  would  not  have 
taken  place  so  soon.  But  his  arbitrary  principles,  and  his  zeal  for 
the  authority  of  the  crown,  enkindled  the  spirit  of  the  people ; 
while  his  representations  to  the  ministry  excited  them  to  those 
measures,  which  hastened  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the 
mother  country.  From  the  letters  of  Governor  Bernard,  which 
were  obtained  and  transmitted  to  this  country  by  some  secret  friend, 
it  appears  he  had  very  little  regard  to  the  interests  of  liberty.  His 
select  letters  on  the  trade  and  government  of  America,  written  in 
Boston,  from  1763  to  1768,  were  published  in  London  in  1774 ; 
his  other  letters,  written  home  in  confidence,  were  published  in 
1768  and  1769.* 

GOV.  HUTCHINSON. 

THOMAS,  (son  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hutchinson,  an  eminent  mer 
chant  and  member  of  the  council,  who  seized  the  famous  pirate, 
Kidd,  when  he  resisted  the  officers  sent  to  arrest  him,)  was  gra 
duated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1727.  He  at  first  embarked  in 
commercial  pursuits,  but  did  not  succeed.  He  then  studied  the 
common  law  of  England,  and  the  principles  of  her  constitution. 
He  was  elected  for  ten  consecutive  years  to  the  assembly,  and  for 

*  See  Allen's  Biography, 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  455 

three  years  was  speaker.  He  succeeded  his  uncle,  Edward  Hutch- 
inson,  as  judge  of  probate,  in  1752.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
council  from  1749  to  1766 ;  lieut.  governor  from  1758  to  1771. 
On  the  death  of  Judge  Sewall,  in  1760,  he  was  appointed  chief- 
justice  ;  all  which  he  filled  with  distinguished  ability.  "  His 
oratory  charmed  beyond  that  of  any  man  ;  there  was  equal  fluency 
and  pathos  in  his  manner ;  he  could  be  argumentative  and  smooth ; 
he  was  active,  diligent  and  plausible ;  and,  upon  all  occasions 
seemed  to  be  influenced  by  public  spirit  more  than  selfish  consider 
ations.  His  respect  to  religious  institutions,  his  sympathy  with  the 
distressed,  his  affability,  integrity,  industry  and  talents,  procured 
in  a  very  high  degree  the  public  confidence."  In  1767,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  for  settling  the  boundary 
with  New-York;  and,  amidst  all  the  vituperations  against  him, 
Massachusetts  has  cause  to  remember  with  gratitude  that  his  ad 
vice  only  prevented  the  other  commissioners,  Hancock,  Hanly  and 
Brattle,  from  abandoning  the  claim  to  the  western  territory  of 
New-York,  which  was  retained  and  sold  for  a  large  sum. 

On  the  departure  of  Governor  Bernard  in  1769,  the  admin 
istration  devolved  on  Lieut.  Governor  Hutchinson  ;  and  in  March, 
1771,  he  received  his  commission  as  governor  just  as  he  had  con 
cluded  to  advise  the  government  that  it  would  be  desirable  for  him 
to  remain  chief-justice,  and  pass  his  days  in  peace.  Unhappily  for 
himself  he  accepted  the  appointment,  and  from  this  time  till  his 
departure  in  1774,  he  was  constantly  in  dispute  with  the  council 
and  assembly.  Among  the  subjects  of  controversy,  was  the  pro 
vision  made  for  his  support  by  the  crown.  By  his  speech  of  Jan. 
6,  1773,  asserting  the  supreme  authority  of  parliament,  he  pro 
voked  a  discussion  by  the  council  and  house  which  had  better 
never  been  uttered  ;  and  the  minister  recommended  him  not  to 
renew  the  discussion.  His  views  he  at  all  times  candidly  and 
manfully  explained  to  the  legislature  ;  in  many  speeches  and  mes 
sages  which  display  his  learning,  temper  and  abilities. 

The  confidential  letters  written  by  him,  and  others  to  Mr. 
Whately,  a  former  member  of  parliament,  in  opposition  to  the 
ministry,  which  caused  so  much  excitement  in  1772,  were  procured 
by  Dr.  Franklin  through  Mr.  Temple,  (afterwards  consul  general 
to  United  States,)  from  Mr.  Whately's  executor,  and  caused  a  duel 


456  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

between  the  two  latter.  Dr.  Franklin  sent  them  to  Mr.  Cooper, 
with  an  injunction  that  they  should  not  be  copied  or  published ; 
of  which  restriction  the  Doctor  remarked,  that  "  as  distant  objects 
seen  only  through  a  mist  appear  larger,  the  same  may  happen 
from  the  mystery  in  this  case"  In  this  state  they  remained  six  or 
eight  months,  and  finally  were  communicated  to  the  legislature 
in  secret  session.  In  the  letters  was  no  sentiment  the  governor 
had  not  avowed  in  his  public  addresses.  All  that  was  objected  to, 
and  for  which  the  council  reproached  him,  was  the  following  : — "  I 
never  think  of  the  measures  necessary  for  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  colonies  without  pain  ;  there  must  be  an  abridgment 
of  what  are  called  English  liberties.  I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible 
to  project  a  system  of  government,  in  which  a  colony  three  thou 
sand  miles  distant  shall  enjoy  all  the  liberty  of  the  parent  state." 
For  this,  the  council  and  assembly  voted  an  address  for  his  removal ; 
and  at  a  hearing  before  the  privy  council  of  his  friends,  Mr.  Man- 
duit  and  Mr.  Wedderburne,  on  his  behalf,  the  decision  was  in 
favor  of  "  the  honor,  integrity,  and  conduct  of  the  governor." 

In  an  unpublished  letter  of  John  Adams  to  Colonel  Joseph 
Ward,  dated  Quincy,  Oct.  24,  1809,  he  says :— "  If  I  was  the 
witch  of  Endor,  I  would  wake  the  ghost  of  Hutchinson,  and  give 
him  absolute  power  over  the  currency  of  the  United  States  and 
every  part  of  it ;  provided  always,  that  he  should  meddle  with 
nothing  but  currency.  As  little  as  I  revere  his  memory,  I  will 
acknowledge  that  he  understood  the  subject  of  coin  and  commerce 
better  than  any  man  I  ever  knew  in  this  country.  He  was  a  mer 
chant,  and  there  can  be  no  scientific  merchant  without  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  theory  of  a  medium  of  trade.  It  will  be  in  vain 
to  talk  of  public  credit,  until  we  return  to  a  pure,  unmixed  circu 
lation  of  standard  gold  and  silver.  There  can  never  be  a  govern 
ment  of  laws  in  money  matters,  without  a  fixed  philosophical  and 
mathematical  standard.  Contracts  can  never  be  inviolable  with 
out  a  stable  standard." 

Governor  Hutchinson  deserves  great  honor  for  his  labors  in 
regard  to  the  History  of  Massachusetts,  which  he  published  from 
its  first  settlement  to  the  year  1760.  In  so  high  estimation  was 
it  held,  that  at  the  expiration  of  more  than  half  a  century  after  its 
publication,  successful  efforts  were  made  by  the  most  influential 


BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES.  457 

persons  there  to  obtain  the  unpublished  part  of  this  history,  which 
they  pronounced,  "  a  work  of  inestimable,  value,  resting  on  the  solid 
basis  of  utility  and  truth;  the  accuracy  and  fidelity  of  which  was 
universally  felt  and  acknowledged"  These  efforts  of  the  govern 
ment  of  Harvard  College,  the  Historical  Society,  of  Judge  Davis, 
Governor  Gore,  Dr.  Kirkland,  Dr.  Lowell,  and  James  Savage,  Esq., 
who  secured  the  private  circulation  of  five  hundred  copies  before 
publication,  and  whose  sentiments  on  the  leading  subject  are  at 
variance  with  those  o'f  its  author ;  are  proud  testimonials  of  the 
character  of  Governor  Hutchinson  in  the  field  of  his  labors  and 
sacrifices,  and  amidst  the  descendants  of  his  persecutors. 

Governor  Hutchinson  died  at  Brompton,  near  London,  June  3, 
1780,  aged  sixty-nine,  and  was  buried  at  Croydon. 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 

In  the  posthumous  volume  of  Governor  Hutchinson's  History  of 
Massachusetts,*  he  says:. — "  Mr.  HANCOCK'S  name  has  been  sounded 
through  the  world  as  a  principal  actor  in  this  tragedy.  He  was  a 
young  man,  whose  father  and  grandfather  were  ministers  in  country 
parishes,  of  irreproachable  characters,  but,  like  country  ministers 
in  New  England  in  general,  of  small  estates.  His  father's  brother, 
from  a  bookseller  became  one  of  the  most  opulent  merchants  in 
the  province ;  he  had  raised  a  great  estate  with  such  rapidity,  that 
it  was  commonly  believed  among  the  vulgar,  that  he  had  pur 
chased  a  valuable  diamond  for  a  small  sum  and  sold  it  at  its  full 
price.  But  the  secret  lay  in  his  importing  from  St.  Eustatia  great 
quantities  of  tea  in  molasses  hogsheads,  which  sold  at  a  very  great  ^ 
advance;  and  by  importing,  at  the  same  time,  a  few  chests  from 
England,  he  freed  the  rest  from  suspicion,  and  always  had  the 
reputation  of  a  fair  trader.  He  was  also  concerned  in  supplying 
the  officers  of  the  army,  ordnance  and  navy,  and  made  easy  and 
advantageous  remittances;  when  he  died,  he  left  to  his  nephew 
more  than  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  besides  the  reversion  after 
the  death  of  his  widow,  of  twenty  thousand  more.  The  uncle  was 
always  on  the  side  of  government ;  the  nephew's  ruling  passion 
was  a  fondness  for  popular  applause.  He  changed  the  course  of 
his  uncle's  business,  and  built  and  employed  in  trade,  a  great 

*  Published  in  1S28. 

58 


458  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

number  of  ships ;  and  in  this  way,  and  by  building  at  the  same 
time  several  houses,  he  found  work  for  a  great  number  of  trades 
men  ;  made  himself  popular — was  chosen  selectman — represent 
ative — moderator  of  town  meetings,  etc.  He  associated  with  those 
who  were  called  friends  of  liberty.  His  natural  powers  were 
moderate,  and  had  been  very  little  improved  by  study,  or  appli 
cation  to  any  kind  of  science.  His  ruling  passion  kept  him  from 
ever  losing  sight  of  its  object,  but  he  was  fickle  and  inconstant  in 
the  means  of  pursuing  it ;  and  though,  for  the  most  part,  he  was 
closely  attached  to  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  he  has  repeatedly  broken 
off  from  all  connection  with  him  for  several  months  together. 
Partly  by  inattention  to  his  private  affairs,  and  partly  from  want  of 
judgment,  he  became  greatly  involved  and  distressed ;  and  the  estate 
was  lost  with  much  greater  rapidity  than  it  had  been  acquired." 

President  Quincy,  in  his  invaluable  History  of  Harvard  Univer 
sity,  has  devoted  a  chapter  to  the  wrongs  which  that  institution 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hancock  as  its  treasurer ;  and  closes 
the  detail  as  follows : — "  From  respect  to  the  high  rank  which 
John  Hancock  attained  among  the  patriots  of  the  American  Revo 
lution,  it  would  have  been  grateful  to  have  passed  over  in  silence 
his  long  denial  of  the  rights  of  the  college,  and  withholding  its 
property,  had  truth  and  fidelity  of  history  permitted.  But  justice 
to  a  public  institution  which  he  essentially  embarrassed  during  a 
period  of  nearly  twenty  years,  and  also  to  the  memory  of  those 
whom  he  made  to  feel  and  to  suffer,  requires  that  these  records  of 
unquestionable  facts,  which  at  the  time  when  they  occurred 
were  the  cause  of  calumny  and  censure  to  honorable  men,  actuated 
in  their  measures  solely  by  a  sense  of  official  fidelity,  should  not 
be  omitted.  In  republics,  popularity  is  the  form  of  power  most 
apt  to  corrupt  its  possessor,  and  to  tempt  him,  for  party  ends  or 
personal  interest,  to  trample  on  right  or  set  principle  at  defiance. 
History  has  no  higher  or  more  imperative  duty  to  perform,  than 
by  an  unyielding  fidelity  to  impress  this  class  of  men  with  the 
apprehension  that,  although  through  fear  or  favor  they  may  escape 
the  animadversions  of  contemporaries,  there  awaits  them  in  her 
impartial  record  the  retribution  of  truth." 

President  Quincy  also  says  of  him  : — "  His  manners  were  full 
of  suavity  and  attraction ;  his  love  of  place  and  popularity  intense. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  459 

He  early  joined  the  patriotic  party,  whose  leaders  perceived  the 
advantage  of  placing  him  at  their  head ;  and  giving  him  every 
distinction  they  could  command.  By  the  continued  influence  of 
these  possessions,  manners  and  circumstances,  he  acquired  a  popular 
power,  which  in  this  country  has  scarcely  been  exceeded." 

"  The  style  of  living  he  adopted,  and  the  openness  of  his  hand 
to  every  object  coinciding  with  his  views  or  his  interests,  kept  his 
ample  resources  in  a  perpetual  state  of  exhaustion.  It  suited  both 
his  interest  and  policy  to  postpone  debts,  and  gratify  friends." 

SAMUEL  ADAMS. 

Of  this  distinguished  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  Gov.  Hutchin- 
son,  in  the  posthumous  volume  already  quoted,  says  :  "  Mr.  SAMUEL 
ADAMS'S  father  had  been  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Land  Bank  in 
1741,  which  was  dissolved  by  act  of  parliament.     After  his  de 
cease  his  estate  was  put  up  for  sale  by  public  auction  under  author 
ity  of  an  act  of  the  general  assembly.     The  son  first  made  himself 
conspicuous  on  this  occasion.     He  attended  the  sale,  threatened  the 
sheriff  to  bring  an  action  against  him  and  all  who  should  attempt 
to  enter  upon  the  estate  under  pretence  of  a  purchase  ;  and  by  in 
timidating  both  the  sheriff  and  those  who  intended  to  purchase,  he 
prevented  the  sale,  kept  the  estate  in  his  possession,  and  the  debt 
to  the  land  company  remains  unsatisfied.     He  was  afterwards  col 
lector  of  taxes  for  the  town  of  Boston,  and  made  a  defalcation, 
which  caused  an  additional  tax  upon  the  inhabitants.    These  things 
were  unfavorable  to  his  character,  but  the  determined  spirit  he 
showed  in  the  cause  of  liberty  would  have  covered  a  multitude  of 
such  faults.     He  was  for  near  twenty  years  a  writer  against  gov 
ernment  in  the  public  newspapers  ;  at  first  but  an  indifferent  one  ; 
long  practice  caused  him  to  arrive  at  great  perfection,  and  to  ac 
quire  a  talent  of  artfully  and  fallaciously  insinuating  into  the  minds 
of  his  readers  a  prejudice  against  the  characters  of  all  whom  he 
attacked,  beyond  any  other  man  I  ever  knew.     This  talent  he  em 
ployed  in  the  messages,  remonstrances,  and  resolves  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  most  of  which  were  of  his  composition,  and  he 
made  more  converts  to  his  cause  by  calumniating  governors  and 
other  servants  of  the  crown,  than  by  strength  of  reasoning.     The 
benefit  to  the  town  from  his  defence  of  their  liberties,  he  supposed 


460  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

an  equivalent  to  his  arrears  as  their  collector;  and  the  prevailing 
principle  of  his  party,  that  the  end  justified  the  means,  probably 
quieted  the  remorse  he  must  have  felt  from  robbing  men  of  their 
characters,  and  injuring  them  more  than  if  he  had  robbed  them  of 
their  estates." 

JOHN  ADAMS. 

The  same  writer  has  the  following  notice  of  another  eminent 
leader  of  the  revolution  :  "Mr.  JOHN  ADAMS  was  a  distant  relation 
and  intimate  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Samuel  Adams.     After  his  edu 
cation  at  the  college  he  applied  to  the  study  of  the  law,  a  short 
time  before  the  troubles  began.     He  is  said  to  have  been  at  a  loss 
which  side  to  take.     Mr.  Sewall,  who  was  with  the  government, 
would  have  persuaded  him  to  be  on  the  same  side,  and  promised 
him  to  desire  Governor  Bernard  to  make  him  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
The  governor  took  time  to  consider  of  it,  and  having,  as  Mr.  Adams 
conceived,  not  taken  proper  notice  of  him,  or  given  him  offence  on 
some  former  occasion,  he  no  longer  deliberated,  and  ever  after 
joined  in  opposition.     As  the  troubles  increased  he  increased  in 
knowledge,  and  made  a  figure,  not  only  in  his  own  profession,  but 
as  a  patriot,  and  was  generally  esteemed  as  a  person  endowed 
with  more  knowledge  than  his  kinsman,  and  equally  zealous  in  the 
cause  of  liberty ;  but  neither  his  business  nor  his  health  would  ad 
mit  of  that  constant  application  to  it  which  distinguished  the  other 
from  all  the  rest  of  the  province.     In  general  he  may  be  said  to  be 
of  stronger  resentment  upon  any  real  or  supposed  personal  neglect 
or  injury  than  the  other,  but  in  their  resentment  against  such  as 
opposed  them  in  the  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged,  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  say  which  exceeded.     His  ambition  was  without  bounds, 
and  he  has  acknowledged  to  his  acquaintance  that  he  could  not 
look  with  complacency  upon  any  man  who  was  in  possession  of 
more  wealth,  more  honors,  or  more  knowledge  than  himself." 

LIEUT.  GOV.  GUSHING. 

THOMAS  GUSHING,  LL.  D.  was  the  son  of  a  very  popular  speaker 
of  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1744 ;  was  fond  of  public  life,  and  paid  too  little  attention  to 
pecuniary  considerations ;  was  many  years  a  representative,  and  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  461 

1763,  when  Governor  Bernard  negatived  Mr.  Otis  as  speaker,  he 
was  elected  in  his  place,  and  continued  in  that  office  till  chosen  a 
member  of  the  first  Congress,  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  in  1774.  He 
was  elected  lieut.  governor  in  1779,  which  office  he  held  till  his 
death  in  1788.  His  name  as  speaker  having  been  signed  to  all 
the  public  papers,  made  it  known  abroad,  where  he  was  considered 
the  leader  of  the  whigs.  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  pamphlet  called 
"  Taxation  no  Tyranny"  says,  "  one  object  of  the  Americans  is  to 
adorn  the  brows  of  Mr.  Gushing  with  a  diadem."  And  he  was  at 
other  times  the  object  of  the  sarcasm  of  ministerial  writers.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  corporation  of  Harvard  College,  and  attentive  to 
its  affairs,  from  which  he  received  a  diploma  of  doctor  of  laws. 

JUDGE  PAINE. 

ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE,  L.L.  D.,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  decla 
ration  of  independence,  was  born  in  Boston,  1731;  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1749  ;  studied  law  ;  and  conducted  the  pros 
ecution  on  the  part  of  the  crown  with  great  reputation,  in  the 
absence  of  the  attorney  general,  in  the  trial  of  Capt.  Preston  and 
his  men  of  "  Boston  massacre"  memory  in  1770.  In  1773  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  afterwards  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  continental  Congress,  which  met  at  Phil 
adelphia  in  1774.  The  following  four  years  he  was  re-elected  and 
rendered  important  services  in  introducing  the  manufacture  of  salt 
petre,  then  imperfectly  understood,  while  the  colonies  were  suffer 
ing  for  the  want  of  gunpowder.  He  was  also  of  the  committee  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  manufacture  of  cannon,  and  other  imple 
ments  of  war.  In  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  Joseph  Palmer,  as  president 
of  the  Massachusetts  provincial  Congress  at  Watertown,  he  com 
plains  of  an  intrigue  to  supplant  him  in  the  good  opinion  of  his 
constituents,  and  says  he  "  has  just  discovered  a  malicious  and 
slanderous  correspondence  between  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Cush~ 
ing"  On  the  organization  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Massachusetts 
in  1776,  he  was  named  for  one  of  the  judges,  which  he  declined  at 
first,  as  John  Adams,  many  years  his  junior,  had  obtained  the  ap 
pointment  of  chief  justice;  but  upon  the  resignation  of  the  latter, 
Mr.  Paine  took  his  seat  on  that  bench.  His  son,  who  afterwards 
bore  his  name,  was  a  distinguished  writer  of  national  and  patriotic 
poetry, 


462  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

GOV.  HARRISON. 

COL.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  declaration 
of  independence,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  graduated  at  the 
college  of  William  and  Mary.  He  commenced  his  political  career 
as  early  as  1764,  in  the  legislature  of  his  native  colony.  The  royal 
government  offered  him  a  seat  at  the  council  board,  a  tempting  bait 
for  young  ambition,  which  he  had  the  resolution  to  refuse,  as  the 
measures  of  the  ministry  were  already  unfriendly  to  the  liberty  of 
the  provinces ;  and  when  the  time  came  for  active  resistance  to 
arbitrary  power,  he  was  ready  for  service.  He  was  in  the  first 
general  Congress  of  1774,  and  the  three  succeeding  ones,  and  was 
particularly  useful  as  chairman  of  the  board  of  war.  After  his 
resignation  in  1777,  he  was  elected  speaker  of  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses  of  Virginia,  and  filled  the  chair  till  1782,  when  he  was 
elected  governor,  to  which  office  he  was  twice  re-elected.  He 
retired  in  1785  to  private  life,  but  in  1788  became  a  member  of 
the  convention  which  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
He  died  in  1791.  Gov.  Harrison  was  father  of  General  William 
H.  Harrison,  late  President  of  the  United  States. 

LIEUT.  GOV.  A.  OLIVER. 

Of  LIEUT.  GOVERNOR  ANDREW  OLIVER,  Gov.  Hutchinson  says, 
"  A  very  small  portion  of  mankind  have  so  well  deserved  to  be 
characterized,  "  Integer  vitce  sederisque  purus."  Scarce  any  man 
ever  had  a  more  scrupulous  and  sacred  regard  to  truth,  and  yet,  to 
such  a  degree  did  the  malignant  spirit  of  party  prevail  as  to 
cause  a  writer*  in  the  public  papers  in  England  to  bring  against 
him  a  charge  of  perjury.  The  Council  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  from 
whose  votes  and  resolves  this  writer  attempted  to  support  the 
charge,  by  a  vote  which  they  caused  to  be  printed,  repaired  the  in 
jury  as  wrell  as  they  could ;  but  a  consciousness  of  his  innocency 
and  integrity  was  his  best  support.  This  abuse,  however,  together 
with  the  reproaches  most  injuriously  cast  upon  him  by  the  resolves 
of  the  council  and  house,  in  which  he  was  treated  as  the  deter 
mined  enemy  to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  the  interest  whereof, 

*  Arthur  Lee,  under  the  signature  of  Junius  Americanus. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  463 

according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  (which  was  much  superior 
to  that  of  his  most  virulent  persecutors,)  he  always  had  at  heart, 
affected  his  spirits  and  evidently  accelerated  his  death." 

LIEUT.  Gov.  OLIVER  was  a  son  of  Hon.  Daniel  Oliver,  of  Bos 
ton,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1724.  He  was  a  repre 
sentative  from  Boston,  member  of  the  council,  and  secretary  of  the 
province,  before  his  last  troublesome  dignity  as  lieut.  governor, 
which  office  he  filled  from  1770  to  1774 ;  until  death  closed  liis 
career  on  the  3d  March  in  that  year.  His  removal  had  been 
clamorously  called  for  by  the  people  through  the  provincial  as 
sembly.  Lieut.  Gov.  Oliver  was  a  liberal  benefactor  to  his  alma 
mater  in  books,  ancient  manuscripts  and  anatomical  preparations. 

/ 
HON.  S.  QUINCY. 

SAMUEL  QUINCY,  brother  of  Josiah  and  Edmund,  of  Boston, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1754,  was  a  poet  and  an  elegant 
prose  writer.  As  solicitor  for  the  crown,  he  was  engaged  with 
Robert  Treat  Paine  in  the  memorable  trial  of  Capt.  Preston  and 
the  British  soldiers  in  1770 ;  his  brother  was  opposed  to  him  on 
that  occasion,  and  both  reversed  their  party  sympathies  in  their 
professional  position.  He  was  an  addressor  of  Gov.  Hutchinson, 
and  went  to  England  early  in  1775.  He  was  included  in  the  ban 
ishment  act  of  September,  1778.  In  April,  1779,  he  w as  appointed 
comptroller  at  Parkin  Bay,  Antigua,  and  died  on  his  passage  from 
Tortola  to  England  for  his  health,  August  9,  1789,  aged  55.  Mr. 
Quincy  married  a  sister  of  the  late  Henry  Hill,  Esq.,  of  Boston. 
His  son,  of  the  same  name,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1782,  was  an  attorney  at  law  in  Lenox,  Massachusetts,  where  he 
died,  Jan.  1816,  leaving  a  son  Samuel,  now  an  alderman  of  Bos 
ton.  His  other  son,  Josiah,  is  an  eminent  counsellor  at  law  of 
Romney,  New  Hampshire,  and  president  of  the  senate  of  that 
state. 

HON.  JON.  SEWALL. 

JONATHAN  SEWALL,LL.D.,  was  born  at  Boston,  August,  1728.  His 
father,  Jonathan  Sewall,  merchant,  was  a  nephew  of  Chief  Justice 
Stephen  Sewall,  and  grandson  of  Major  Stephen  Sewall,  of  Salem. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1748,  and  was  a  teacher  at 


464  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

Salem  till  1756.  He  married  Esther,  daughter  of  Edmund  Quincy, 
Esq.,  of  Braintree,  afterwards  of  Boston,  and  sister  of  Dorothy 
Quincy,  wife  of  Governor  Hancock,  and  of  Elizabeth  Quincy, 
wife  of  Samuel  Sewall,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  the  father  of  the  late  Hon. 
Samuel  Sewall,  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Sewall  stu 
died  law  with  Judge  Chambers  Russell,  of  Lincoln ;  commenced 
practice  in  his  profession  at  Charlestown,  and  at  the  death  of 
Jeremy  Gridley,  Esq.,  he  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  September,  1767.  He  was  an  able  and  successful  law 
yer.  The  elder  President  Adams  was  his  intimate  friend,  though 
opposite  in  politics,  and  has  done  justice  to  his  memory.  He  was 
solicitor-general  before  he  succeeeded  Gridley  in  the  office  of  attor 
ney-general.  His  eloquence  is  represented  as  having  been  soft, 
smooth,  and  insinuating,  which  gave  him  as  much  power  over  a 
jury  as  a  lawyer  ought  ever  to  possess.  It  is  proper  here  to  take 
notice  of  one  fact  relative  to  Sewall.  He  commenced  the  suit  in 
May,  1769,  in  favor  of  a  negro  against  his  master  for  his  freedom, 
viz.,  James  vs.  Richard  Lechmere,  of  Cambridge.  The  late  Chief 
Justice  Dana  was  counsel  for  the  defendant.  The  suit  terminated 
the  following  year  in  favor  of  the  negro;  and  I  believe  it  was  the 
first  case  where  the  grand  question  was  settled  abolishing  slavery 
in  that  state.  The  case  of  the  negro  Somerset,  which  Blackstone 
commends  so  highly,  and  which  has  been  a  matter  of  self-gratu- 
lation  in  England,  was  not  settled  till  1772;  two  years  after  the 
decision  in  favor  of  James.  In  1768,  he  was  appointed  judge  of 
admiralty  for  Nova  Scotia,  and  although  he  went  there  once  or 
twice  in  that  capacity,  he  remained  but  a  short  period.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  revolution,  he  was  residing  at  Cambridge,  in 
the  Vassall  house,  afterwards  Washington's  head  quarters,  and 
since  occupied  by  Andrew  Cragie.  He  left  this  country  for  Eng 
land  early  in  1775.  He  had  before  ably  vindicated  the  characters 
of  Governors  Bernard,  Hutchinson,  and  Oliver,  and  was  esteemed 
an  able  writer.  He  was  proscribed  in  the  Conspirator's  Act  of 
April  30,  1779.  He  resided  chiefly  in  Bristol  till  1788,  (for  the 
education  of  his  children,)  when  he  removed  to  St.  John's,  New 
Brunswick,  having  been  appointed  judge  of  the  vice-admiralty 
court  there,  where  he  resided  till  his  death,  which  occurred  Septem 
ber  26,  1796,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  His  widow  survived  him, 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  465 

and  removed  to  Montreal,  where  she  died  at  an  advanced  age. 
His  son  Jonathan,  was  at  school  at  Hackney  in  1777,  and  after 
wards  resided  at  Quebec,  where  he  sustained  the  offices  of  solicitor 
and  attorney-general,  and  judge  of  the  vice-admiralty  court,  until 
1808,  when  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  province,  which 
he  resigned  in  1838,  and  died  November  12,  1839,  aged  seventy- 
four.  In  1832,  he  received  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws,  from 
Harvard  College.  His  son  Stephen  was  appointed  solicitor-gene 
ral  in  1810,  and  resided  in  Montreal,  but  lost  that  office  in  1814, 
in  consequence  of  political  differences  with  the  governor  ;  he  died 
there  of  Asiatic  cholera  in  the  summer  of  1832. 

ISAAC  SMITH. 

REV.  ISAAC  SMITH  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1767,  where 
he  was  a  tutor  1774-5,  when  he  left  for  England,  having  a  brother 
settled  there.  He  was  a  loyalist,  and  a  dissenting  minister,  much 
esteemed  for  the  catholic  tenor  of  his  discourses.  He  was  ordained 
June  24,  1778,  over  a  society  of  dissenters  at  Sidmouth,  Devon 
shire,  but  returned  to  New  England  after  the  peace,  and  became 
librarian  in  Harvard  College,  from  1789  to  1791,  and  subsequently 
preceptor  of  Dummer  academy,  at  Byfield,  near  Newburyport, 
Massachusetts.  He  was  a  brother  of  William  Smith,  Esq.  of  Boston. 

JOSEPH  GREEN. 

JOSEPH  GREEN,  Esq.,  a  wit  and  poet,  born  at  Boston, 1706,  received 
the  rudiments  of  learning  at  the  South  Grammar  School  from  Mr. 
Williams,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1726.  He  was  the 
author  of  many  fugitive  pieces,  chiefly  satirical,  against  the  gover 
nor  or  assembly,  as  chance  might  direct.  He  was  a  fine  classical 
scholar.  He  turned  his  attention  to  commerce,  of  which  he  obtained 
a  comprehensive  knowledge,  and  acquired  a  handsome  property. 
To  integrity  and  generosity  were  added  in  him  politeness  and  ele 
gance.  His  humor,  learning  and  taste  might  have  connected  him 
with  the  influential,  and  procured  for  him  almost  any  distinction  ; 
but  he  would  never  accept  public  office.  He  signed  an  address  to 
Governor  Hutchinson  on  his  leaving  the  government.  In  1774, 
when  an  act  passed  Parliament  depriving  Massachusetts  of  her 
charter,  a  number  of  counsellors  were  appointed  by  mandamus : 

59 


466  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

among  them  was  Mr.  Green,  who  declined  the  honor  as  soon  as 
summoned,  giving  in  his  resignation  to  Governor  Gage.  Of  his 
poetical  pieces,  "  the  Elegy  on  Mr.  Old  Tenor,"  and  the  satire  on 
the  processions  of  Free-masons,  have  passed  through  many  editions. 
During  the  Whitfieldian  controversy,  there  was  a  club  of  sentimen 
talists  who  wrote  what  they  pleased,  and,  as  the  pamphlets  were 
emitted  from  the  press,  it  was  easy  to  conjecture  the  parts  he  wrote, 
especially  if  a  line  of  poetry  was  introduced.  They  also  took  a 
part  in  politics,  and  began  by  attacking  the  administration  of 
Governor  Belcher,  putting  his  speeches  into  rhyme.  In  the  con 
troversy  with  Great  Britain,  previous  to  the  Revolution,  most  of 
these  gentlemen  joined  the  party  of  loyalists.  Mr.  Green  was  in 
cluded  in  the  act  of  banishment  of  1778,  and  having  left  Boston 
early  in  1775,  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  England,  where 
he  died  at  London,  December  11,  1780,  aged  seventy-four. 

JASPER  MAUDUIT. 

JASPER  MAUDUIT,  Esq.,  of  London,  the  friend  of  Governor  Hutch- 
inson  and  Lieutenant  Governor  Oliver,  successfully  vindicated 
their  characters  respecting  their  letters  to  the  privy  council,  as 
sisted  by  Mr.  Wedderburne.  He  was  for  a  long  time  treasurer  of 
the  Society  for  propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  of  New 
England,  and  agent  for  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
London.  His  zeal  was  greater  for  the  conversion  of  Indians,  than 
for  the  important  concerns  of  the  province. 

ISRAEL  MAUDUIT. 

ISRAEL  MAUDUIT,  Esq.,  secretary  of  Lord  George  Germaine,  was 
distinguished  as  the  writer  of  several  pamphlets,  in  which  the  char 
acter  of  General  Howe  was  severely  attacked. 

WARD  NICHOLAS  BOYLSTON. 

WARD  NICHOLAS  BOYLSTON,  Esq.,  the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary 
Hallowell,  (his  mother  being  the  sister  of  Nicholas  Boylston,)  was 
born  at  Boston  in  1749 ;  by  the  desire  of  his  maternal  uncle,  his 
name  was  changed  in  1770.  In  1773,  he  embarked  for  Newfound 
land  ;  from  thence  he  sailed  to  Italy ;  travelled  through  Turkey, 
Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt,  and  along  the  Barbary  coast ;  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  467 

returned  through  France  and  Flanders  to  England,  in  1775.  He 
entered  into  business  as  a  merchant,  and  remained  in  London  till 
1800,  when  he  returned  to  Boston,  and  continued  to  reside  in 
Massachusetts  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  January,  1828, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

He  possessed  a  mind  emulative  of  the  spirit  of  his  maternal 
ancestry,  which  he  acknowledged  in  a  letter  dated  May  20,  1800, 
when  he  founded  at  Cambridge  the  "  Boylston  Medical  Library." 
In  this  he  expressed  the  pride  he  felt  in  being  nearly  allied  to  his 
maternal  great-uncle,  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  "  who  first  introduced 
the  inoculation  for  the  small-pox  into  America,  from  whence  it 
was  carried  to  England,  and  has  ever  since  been  extending  its 
beneficial  influence  through  the  world ;"  and  also  to  his  uncle, 
Nicholas  Boylston,  "  whose  memory  is  known  and  honored  for 
his  liberal  donations  to  Harvard  University."  In  1840,  Mr.  Boyl- 
ston's  fund  for  a  college  and  anatomical  museum  amounted  to 
nine  thousand  dollars ;  which  was  in  addition  to  the  medical 
library  of  eleven  hundred  volumes,  and  the  fund  for  prize  disserta 
tions,  established  by  him  in  1800. 

JOHN  PRINCE. 

DR.  JOHN  PRINCE,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  a  refugee,  who  removed  to 
Halifax,  in  1775.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Richard  Derby, 
of  Salem,  and  was  proscribed  in  the  banishment  act  of  Massachu 
setts,  Sept.  1778.  John  Prince,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  who  married  a 
daughter  of  E.  H.  Derby,  Esq.,  is  a  son. 

JOSEPH  HOOPER. 

JOSEPH  HOOPER,  Esq.,  ofMarblehead,  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  in  1763,  and  a  refugee  in  1775.  He  was  a  son  of  Peter 
Hooper,  Esq.,  a  "  mandamus"  counsellor,  who  rose  from  abject 
poverty  to  apparently  inexhaustible  wealth ;  engrossing  for  years 
a  large  part  of  the  foreign  fishing  business  at  Marblehead,  which 
was  very  extensive  about  the  year  1760.  For  a  while  he  pur 
chased  all  the  fish  brought  into  that  quarter,  sent  it  to  Bilboa 
and  other  ports  in  Spain,  and  received  gold  and  silver  in  return, 
with  which  he  purchased  goods  in  England,  etc.  He  built  splendid 
houses  in  town  and  country,  rode  in  a  chariot  like  a  prince,  and 


468  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

was  ever  after  known  as  "  King  Hooper."  For  years  he  knew  not 
the  state  of  his  affairs,  and  died  insolvent  in  1790.  At  his  elegant 
house  in  Danvers,  (since  Collins's,)  he  entertained  Governor  Gage 
for  some  time  in  1774.  The  mansion  late  Chief  Justice  SewalPs, 
in  Marblehead,  was  built  by  his  son  Joseph  Hooper.  He  became 
a  paper  manufacturer  at  Bungay,  Suffolk,  England  ;  where  he 
died  in  August,  1812.  Although  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the 
proscribing  act,  a  rope  walk  of  his  and  some  lots  of  land  were 
sold  by  the  commissioners,  with  other  confiscated  property,  in  1781. 

GENERAL  CARLETON. 

SIR  GUY  CARLETON,  (afterwards  Lord  Dorchester,)  a  distin 
guished  British  officer  in  America ;  was  appointed  a  brigadier- 
general  in  this  country  in  1766 ;  he  was  made  major-general  in 
1772.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1774,  a  commission  passed  the 
seals,  constituting  him  captain-general  and  governor  of  Quebec. 
When  Canada  was  invaded  by  Montgomery  in  1775,  Carleton  was 
in  the  most  imminent  danger  of  being  taken  prisoner  upon  the  St. 
Lawrence  after  the  capture  of  Montreal ;  but  he  escaped  in  a  boat 
with  muffled  paddles,  and  arrived  safely  at  Quebec,  which  he  found 
threatened  by  an  unexpected  enemy.  Arnold,  though  he  had  been 
repulsed  by  Colonel  McLean,  was  yet  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  city,  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  Montgomery,  previously  to 
another  attack.  General  Carleton,  with  the  skill  of  an  experienced 
officer,  took  the  necessary  measures  for  the  security  of  the  city ; 
his  first  act  was  to  oblige  all  to  leave  Quebec  who  would  not  take 
up  arms  in  its  defence.  When  Montgomery  approached,  his  sum 
mons  was  treated  with  contempt  by  the  governor,  whose  intrepidity 
was  not  to  be  shaken ;  by  his  industry  and  bravery,  Carleton  saved 
the  city.  After  the  unsuccessful  assault  of  the  last  of  December,  in 
which  Montgomery  was  killed,  he  had  nothing  more  immediately  to 
apprehend.  In  May,  1776,  he  obliged  the  Americans  to  raise  the 
siege ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  compelled  them  to  withdraw 
entirely  from  Canada.  In  October,  he  recaptured  Crown  Point ;  but 
as  the  winter  was  advancing,  he  did  not  attempt  the  reduction  of 
Ticonderoga,  but  returned  to  St.  John's.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
next  year  he  was  superseded  in  his  command  by  Burgoyne,  who 
was  intrusted  with  the  northern  British  army.  Carleton's  expe- 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  469 

rience,  abilities,  and  services  were  such  as  rendered  him  worthy 
of  the  command,  which  was  given  to  another.  Though  he  imme 
diately  asked  leave  to  resign  his  government,  he  yet  contributed 
all  in  his  power  to  secure  the  success  of  the  campaign.  In  the 
year  1782,  he  was  appointed,  as  successor  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton, 
commander-in-chief  of  all  his  majesty's  forces  in  America ;  he 
arrived  at  New-York  with  his  commission  in  the  beginning  of  May. 
After  the  treaty  was  signed,  he  delayed  for  some  time  the  evacu 
ation  of  the  city,  from  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  loyalists ;  but 
November  25,  1783,  he  embarked,  and  withdrew  the  British  ships 
from  the  shores  of  America.  He  died  in  England  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1808,  aged  eighty-three ;  he  was  a  brave  and  an  able 
officer,  and  he  rendered  important  services  to  his  country.  Though 
he  was  not  conciliating  in  his  manners,  and  possessed  the  severity 
of  a  soldier,  yet  his  humanity  to  the  American  prisoners,  whom 
he  took  in  Canada,  has  been  much  praised.  In  excuse  for  the 
little  attention  which  he  paid  to  the  honorable  burial  of  Mont 
gomery,  it  can  only  be  said  that  he  regarded  him  as  a  rebel.* 

GENERAL  BURGOYNE. 

It  is  curious  that  a  man  of  such  celebrity  as  a  writer,  a 
senator,  and  an  officer,  as  the  late  Lieutenant  General  John 
Burgoyne,  should  be  found  among  the  number  of  those  of  whose 
youthful  days  no  memorial  has  been  preserved.  Neither  the 
time,  place,  nor  circumstances  of  his  birth  are  known.  Even 
his  parentage  is  doubtful.  He  is  said,  but  upon  what  authority  it 
does  not  appear,  to  have  been  a  natural  son  of  that  Lord  Bingley 
who  died  at  an  advanced  age,  in  1774.  That  he  had  the  advan 
tage  of  a  liberal  education  and  early  intercourse  with  polished 
society,  is  sufficiently  evident  from  his  writings  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  early  devoted  to  the  profession  of  arms,  for  on  the 
10th  of  May,  1759,  he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Lieut.  Colonel, 
and  in  the  August  of  the  ensuing  year,  he  was  appointed  Lieut. 
Col.  Commandant  of  the  16th  Light  Dragoons.  His  after  services 
at  different  periods,  in  Spain,  Portugal  and  America,  are  all  well 
known,  especially  the  unfortunate  termination  of  his  military  career 
at  Saratoga,  which,  though  it  tarnished  not  his  honor,  cast  a  shade 

*  See  Allen's  Biography. 


470  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

over   his  brow,   ever  afterwards   conspicuous  to  the  physiogno 
mical  eye.     He  arrived  in  England  on  parole  in  May,  1778,  and 
published  a  letter  to  his  constituents,  throwing  the  blame  of  the 
failure  of  the  expedition  on  Lord  Sackville,  (George  Germaine,) 
the  secretary  of  the  American  department ;  and  a  reply  to  it, 
doubtless  written  by  Lord  Sackville,  exhibits  some  of  the  peculiari 
ties  of  the  style  of  Junius.     He  made  on  certain  occasions  no  ordi 
nary  figure  in  parliament,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1781, 
when  a  majority  of  parliament  seemed  resolved  to  persist  in  the 
war,  he  joined  the  opposition,  and  advocated  a  motion  for  the  dis 
continuance  of  the  fruitless  contest.     He  knew  that  it  was  impos 
sible  to  conquer  America.     "  Passion,  prejudice  and  interest,"  said 
he,  "  may  operate  suddenly  and  partially ;  but  when  we  see  one 
principle  pervading  the  whole  continent,  the  Americans  resolutely 
encountering  difficulty  and  death  for  a  course  of  years,  it  must  be 
a  strong  vanity  and  presumption  in  our  own  minds,  which  can  only 
lead  us  to  imagine  that  they  are  not  in  the  right."     He  moved  in  the 
first  circles,  and  married  Lady  Charlotte  Stanley,  a  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Derby ;  and  yet  we  know  not  who  and  what  originally  he 
was.     He  was  the  author  of  four  successful  dramas :  The  Maid  of 
the  Oaks,  the  Lord  of  the  Manor,  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  and  the 
Comedy  of  the  Heiress ;  and  yet  the  curiosity  of  his  biographer, 
even  in  this  anecdote-dealing  and  memoir-sifting  age,  cannot  trace 
his  origin,  or  the  scenes  of  his  education.     The  fable  of  the  Lord  of 
the  Manor  seems,  in  some  degree,  to  have  been  suggested  (though 
sufficiently  disguised  in  the  modification  of  character  and  circum 
stances)  by  the  incident  of  his  own  matrimonial  connection ;  for 
his  was  a  clandestine  and  unauthorized  marriage,  at  a  time  when 
he  held  only  a  subaltern's  commission  in  the  army,  and  is  said  to 
have  excited  at  first  the  resentment  of  the  lady's  father  to  such  a 
degree,  that  he  declared  his  resolution  never  to  admit  the  offenders 
into  his  presence,  though  in  process  of  time  the  anger  of  the  earl 
subsided,  a  reconciliation  was  effected,  and  was  succeeded  by  a 
warm  and  lasting  attachment.     It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  mem 
ory  of  his  lady,  who  died  in  the  year  1776,  at  Kensington  Palace, 
during  his  absence  in  America,  is  embalmed  by  the  affectionate 
regrets  of  the  General  in  that  beautiful  air  in  the  first  act  of  that 
opera : 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  47 1 

'  Encompassed  in  an  angel's  frame. 

An  angel's  virtues  lay  ; 
Too  soon  did  heaven  assert  the  claim, 
And  call  its  own  away. 

My  Anna's  worth,  my  Anna's  charms. 

Must  never  more  return  ! 
What  now  shall  fill  these  widow'd  arms  ? 

Ah,  me  !  my  Anna's  urn  !" 

It  is  some  confirmation  of  this  conjecture,  that  General  Bur- 
goyne  contracted  no  second  marriage.  Taste  and  sentiment,  rather 
than  vigor  and  originality,  and  familiarity  with  local  manners  and 
the  superficies  of  character,  rather  than  the  comprehensive  views  of 
the  sources  of  human  action  and  penetration  into  the  deepest  re 
cesses  of  the  human  heart,  characterize  the  genius  of  this  writer ; 
and  his  satire,  though  well  pointed,  will  accordingly  lose  its  inter 
est  when  the  memory  of  the  fleeting  follies  and  temporary  politics 
at  which  it  is  levelled  shall  have  died  away.  Of  his  dramatic 
works,  incomparably  the  most  valuable  is  the  comedy  of  "  The 
Heiress,"  which  may,  indeed,  be  called  the  last  comedy  produced  on 
the  English  stage. 

From  the  peace  till  his  death,  which  took  place  in  August, 
1792,  he  lived  as  a  private  gentleman,  devoted  to  pleasure  and  the 
muses.  The  following  letter,  addressed  by  him  to  Garrick,  is  cha 
racteristic  : 

TO  DAVID  GARRICK,  ESQ. 

Wednesday,  Nov.  9,  1774. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

Your  obliging  and  most  friendly  letter  was  delivered  to  me 
yesterday,  at  the  moment  I  was  sitting  down  to  dinner  with  com 
pany,  or  I  should  have  endeavored  on  the  moment  to  return  my 
acknowledgments,  with  a  warmth  of  expression  due  to  that  with 
which  you  have  honored  me.  In  regard  to  the  very  signal  dis 
tinction  you  propose  to  me  of  the  freedom  of  the  house,  and  the 
manner  of  presenting  it,  I  hope  you  will  permit  me  to  decline  the 
parade,  and  at  the  same  time  believe  me  truly  sensible  of  the  honor 
of  it.  I  should  feel  myself  as  proud  to  be  seated  in  Drury  Lane 
by  your  deliberate  judgment  of  my  talents,  as  ever  an  old  Roman 


472  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

did  in  acquiring  the  freedom  of  7m  theatre  by  public  services  ;  but 
you  are  at  present  too  partial  towards  me ;  and,  till  I  appear  in 
my  own  eyes  more  worthy,  I  must  request  you  to  bound  your  kind 
intentions  to  an  order  for  admittance  occasionally  to  your  green 
room,  where  I  promise  neither  to  criticise  your  men  ill-naturedly, 
nor  lead  astray  yourself.     The  having  contributed  the  songs  and 
music,  and  other  reasons  alleged  for  my  introduction  to  your  re 
hearsals,  will,  I  conclude,  equally  pass  with  the  company  for  this 
additional  favor,  without  the  necessity  of  any  farther  discovery. 
But  as  you  kindly  insist  upon  my  directions,  I  desire  it  to  be  done 
by  a  simple  order  to  Johnson,  and  no  gold  box,  nor  silver  box — 
not  even  a  mulberry  one  :  you  must  give  me  a  reception  Hamlet- 
like — I  will  have  no  appurtenances  of  welcome.     I  think  I  may, 
without  vanity,  congratulate  you  upon  the  piece  having  laid  hold 
of  the  audience  last  night.     A  general  relish  was  very  discernible. 
I  could  not  help  agreeing  with  a  critic  who  sat  near  me,  and  who 
expressed  himself  delighted  with  the  genteel  scenes,  that  the  intro 
duction  of  the  lamplighters  was  too  coarse  to  assort  with  the  rest. 
Suppose  three  or  four  of  your  girls  were  introduced  in  the  act  of 
weaving  cords  of  flowers,  such  as  the  dancers  use  in  the  second 
act.     They  might  fix  one  end  of  the  cord  to  the  scene,  and  keep 
slipping  back  as  they  weave  the  flowers,  in  the  manner  the  rope- 
makers  do,  which  would  be  picturesque.     In  that  case,  O'Daub's 
part  might  begin  with  his  conversation  with  the  architect ;    and  he 
might  present  himself  to  the  girls  in  some  nonsense  like  the  follow 
ing  :  "  O'Daub. — If  these  pretty  maids  would  pay  me  with  a  kiss 
a-piece,  'faith,  I'd  paint  them  all  round  for  nothing  at  all.    Surely 
they  look  as  bright  as  a  May  morning  already,  and  a  touch  of  my 
brush  will  make  them  remembered  by  those  who  never  saw  'em." 
If  after  this  the  two  additional  verses  of  the  song  were  added,  the 
words  would  apply,  and  Moody's  action  might  have  effect.   Should 
you  approve  this  idea,  or  any  one  like  it,  the  alteration  is  so  short 
it  might  be  studied  and  acted  in  half  an  hour  ;  but  I  submit  it  to 
you  on  the  sudden,  like  many  crudities  with  which  I  have  troubled 
you.     Lord  Stanley  is  come  to  town,  and  very  earnest  to  see  "  The 
Maid  of  the  Oaks."     I  send  to  Johnson's  for  a  box  for  Lady  Betty 
to-morrow,  that  she  may  do  him  the  honors,  and  I  hope  I  shall 
succeed.    If  you  could  send  me  the  copy  this  afternoon,  I  would 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  473 

return  it  in  time  for  you  to  put  it  into  the  printer's  hands  to-mor 
row  afternoon.  Believe  me,  with  the  truest  sense  of  the  value  of 
your  friendship,  dear  sir,  your  faithful  and  obedient,  etc.,  etc. 

J.   BURGOYNE. 

GENERAL  CLINTON. 

SIR  HENRY  CLINTON,  an  English  general,  son  of  the  colonial 
Governor  Clinton,  was  the  grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  After 
distinguishing  himself  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  in  1775,  he  was 
sent  unsuccessfully  against  New-York  and  Charleston.  He  after 
wards,  in  September,  1776,  occupied  the  city  of  New-York. 
October  6,  1777,  he  assaulted  and  took  forts  Clinton  and  Mont 
gomery.  In  1778,  he  succeeded  Howe  in  the  command  at  Phila 
delphia,  whence  Washington  compelled  him  to  retire.  In  May, 
1780,  he  took  Charleston.  It  was  he  who  negotiated  with  Arnold 
in  his  treason.  He  returned  to  England  in  1782,  and  died  Dec. 
22,  1795 ;  a  few  months  before,  he  had  been  appointed  governor 
of  Gibraltar.  He  published  a  narrative  of  his  conduct  in  America, 
1782  ;  Observations  on  Cornwallis's  Answer,  1783  ;  Observations 
on  Stedman,  1784. 

LORD  CORNWALLIS. 

CHARLES  CORNWALLIS,  Marquis,  commander  of  the  British  army 
in  America,  surrendered  at  Yorktown,  October  19,  1781 ;  an  event 
which  brought  the  war  to  a  close.  In  1790,  he  was  governor- 
general  of  India,  and  by  his  victories  in  the  war  with  Tippoo  Saib 
acquired  high  reputation.  Again  was  he  appointed,  in  1805, 
governor  of  India  ;  where  he  died,  at  Ghazepore,  October  5.  He 
married  in  1768,  Miss  Jones,  a  lady  of  large  fortune ;  who  is  said  to 
have  died  of  a  broken  heart,  in  consequence  of  his  engaging  in  the 
American  war.  He  published  an  answer  to  the  Narrative  of  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  1783. 

LORD  HOWE. 

ADMIRAL  EARL  HOWE  was  born  in  1725,  and  on  the  death  of  his 
brother  the  general,  succeeded  {o  his  title  and  estate.  He  com 
manded  the  British  fleet  which  arrived  at  Staten  Island  July  12, 
1776 ;  and  was  named  in  the  commission  to  offer  proposals  of 

60 


474  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

peace.  In  July,  1777,  he  convoyed  the  two  hundred  and  seventy 
transports  in  which  the  army  sailed  from  New-York  to  the  Chesa 
peake.  He  repaired  to  Newport  in  the  winter  as  a  safe  harbor ; 
which  place  he  relieved  on  the  30th  Aug.,  1778,  when  threatened 
by  the  Americans  and  French,  by  arriving  from  New-York  with  a 
hundred  sail  of  ships.  In  September,  he  resigned  the  command  to 
Admiral  Gambier.  On  the  1st  of  June,  1794,  he  obtained  a  vic 
tory  over  the  French,  and  died  August  5,  1799.  Lord  Howe  was 
the  brother  and  successor  in  his  title  of  the  General  Lord  Howe 
who  fell  in  the  attack  on  Ticonderoga  in  1758,  in  whom,  said 
Mante,  "  the  soul  of  the  army  seemed  to  expire  ;"  and  to  commem 
orate  whom  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  caused  a  monu 
ment  to  be  erected  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

GENERAL  HOWE. 

GENERAL  SIR  WILLIAM  HOWE,  brother  of  Richard,  Earl  Howe, 
was  the  successor  of  General  Gage  in  command  of  the  British 
forces  in  America.  He  first  arrived  at  Boston  in  May,  1775,  with 
General  Burgoyne,  and  commanded  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill ; 
he  took  possession  of  New-York  in  September,  1776  ;  and  was  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  offer  terms  of  peace.  In  July,  1777,  Sir 
William  sailed  for  the  Chesapeake,  and  entered  Philadelphia,  Sept. 
27  ;  he  defeated  the  Americans  on  the  4th  of  October,  same  year, 
at  Germantown.  In  May,  1778,  he  was  succeeded  by  General 
Clinton.  In  the  House  of  Commons,  in  December  same  year, 
when  assigning  his  reasons  for  quitting  his  command  in  America, 
he  particularly  blamed  Lord  Sackville,  (formerly  Lord  George 
Germaine,)  the  minister,  for  not  sending  reinforcements,  nor  co 
operating  in  his  plans ;  and  in  the  January  following,  Lord  Sack 
ville,  if  he  was  the  author  of  the  letter  to  Admiral  Howe, 
returned  the  invective.  He  published  a  second  edition  of  his 
narrative  relative  to  his  command  in  1780 ;  he  died  in  1814. 
General  Charles  Lee  said,  "  Howe  was  the  most  indolent  of  mor 
tals,  and  never  took  pains  to  examine  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the 
cause  in  which  he  was  engaged.  That  the  king  and  parliament 
formed  the  supreme  power ;  that  supreme  power  is  absolute  and 
uncontrollable  ;  and  consequently  all  resistance  rebellion  ;  that  he 
was  a  soldier  and  bound  to  obey  in  all  cases  whatever :  these  were 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  475 

his  notions,  and  this  his  logic.  He  was  naturally  good-natured, 
and  as  an  executive  soldier  all  fire  and  activity ;  brave  as  Caesar. 
His  understanding  good,  but  confounded  by  the  immensity  of  the 
task  imposed  upon  him." 

GENERAL  GATES. 

HORATIO  GATES,  a  major-general  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  was  a  native  of  England ;  is  said  to  have  been  a  natural 
son  of  Horace  Walpole,  Lord  Orford.  In  early  life  he  entered  the 
British  army,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  his  future  military  fame  ; 
he  was  aid  to  General  Monckton  at  the  capture  of  Martinico  ;  and 
after  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  was  among  the  first  troops 
which  landed  at  Halifax  under  General  Cornwallis.  He  was  with 
Braddock  at  the  time  of  his  defeat  in  1755,  and  was  shot  through 
the  body.  When  peace  was  concluded,  he  purchased  an  estate  in 
Virginia,  where  he  resided  until  the  commencement  of  the  Ame 
rican  war  in  1775 ;  when  he  was  appointed  by  Congress  adjutant- 
general,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  accompanied 
Washington  to  Cambridge.  In  August,  1777,  he  took  command 
of  the  northern  department,  and  succeeded  in  capturing  Bur- 
goyne  in  October.  Congress  passed  a  vote  of  thanks,  and  ordered 
a  medal  of  gold  to  be  presented  to  him  by  the  president.  His 
conduct  towards  his  conquered  enemy  was  marked  by  a  delicacy, 
which  does  him  the  highest  honor ;  he  did  not  permit  his  own 
troops  to  witness  the  mortification  of  the  British  in  depositing  their 
arms.  After  Gen.  Lincoln  was  taken  prisoner,  he  was  appointed, 
June  13,  1780,  to  the  command  of  the  southern  department ; 
August  16,  he  was  defeated  by  Cornwallis  at  Camden.  After  the 
peace  he  retired  to  his  farm  in  Berkley  county,  Virginia,  where 
he  remained  until  the  year  1790,  when  he  came  to  reside  in  New- 
York  ;  having  first  emancipated  his  slaves,  and  made  a  pecuniary 
provision  for  such  as  were  not  able  to  provide  for  themselves. 
Some  of  them  would  not  leave  him,  but  continued  in  his  family. 
On  his  arrival  at  New-York,  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented 
to  him.  In  1800,  he  accepted  a  seat  in  the  legislature ;  his  poli 
tical  opinions  did  not  separate  him  from  many  respectable  citizens, 
whose  views  differed  widely  from  his  own ;  he  died  April  10,  1806, 
aged  77.  A  few  weeks  before  his  death,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Dr. 


476  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

Mitchell,  then  at  Washington,  on  some  business,  and  closed  his  letter, 
dated  Feb.  27,  1806,  with  the  following  words  : — "  I  am  very  weak, 
and  have  evident  signs  of  an  approaching  dissolution.  But  I  have 
lived  long  enough,  since  I  have  lived  to  see  a  mighty  people  ani 
mated  with  a  spirit  to  be  free,  and  governed  by  transcendant 
abilities  and  honor."  He  retained  his  faculties  to  the  last ;  he 
directed  that  his  body  should  be  privately  buried,  which  was  ac 
cordingly  done.  General  Gates  was  a  whig  in  England,  and  a 
republican  in  America ;  he  was  a  scholar,  well  versed  in  history 
and  the  Latin  classics.  While  he  was  just,  hospitable  and  gene 
rous,  his  manners  and  deportment  yet  indicated  his  military  cha 
racter. 

JUDGE  DANA. 

FRANCIS  DANA,  LL.D.,  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts,  was  a 
descendant  of  Richard  Dana,  who  died  at  Cambridge  about  1695. 
His  father  was  Richard  Dana,  an  eminent  magistrate ;  he  was 
born  at  Charlestown  in  August,  1742,  and  after  graduating  at 
Harvard  College  in  1762,  studied  law  with  Judge  Trowbridge ;  he 
passed  the  year  1775  in  England,  where  he  had  a  brother,  Edmund, 
a  minister  at  Worcester,  who  died  in  1823.  In  1776,  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and  taking  his  seat  in  November, 
1777,  continued  in  that  body  until  in  November,  1779,  he  accom 
panied  Mr.  Adams  to  Paris,  as  a  secretary  of  legation.  He  was 
elected  December,  19,  1780,  as  minister  to  Russia;  where  he 
remained,  though  not  publicly  received,  from  August,  1781,  till  the 
close  of  the  war,  returning  in  December,  1783.  He  was  chosen  a 
delegate  to  Congress  in  1784  ;  and  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Convention,  where  he  advocated  the  constitution.  The  office  of 
envoy  extraordinary  to  France  in  1799,  he  declined;  and  Mr. 
Gerry  was  deputed  in  his  stead,  with  Messrs.  Marshall  and  Pinck- 
ney.  Appointed  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts  in  1792,  he  dis 
charged  very  impartially  and  ably  the  duties  of  that  office  until 
his  resignation  in  1806  ;  he  died  at  his  seat  in  Cambridge,  April 
25,  1811,  aged  sixty-eight.  Judge  Dana  was  a  learned  lawyer, 
and  presided  in  court  with  great  dignity  ;  his  opinions  on  the  bench 
were  remarkable  for  their  clearness  and  perspicuity.  In  his  politics 
during  the  days  of  violent  excitements,  he  was  strongly  attached 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  477 

to  the  federalists.     His  correspondence  while  in  Europe,  is  con 
tained  in  Sparks's  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vol.  8th. 

COLONEL  PICKERING. 

HON.  TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  LL.  D.,  the  son  of  a  prominent  citi 
zen  of  Salem  of  the  same  name,  was  born  there  on  the  17th  July, 
1746,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1763.  The  memorable 
distinction  of  conducting  the  first  resistance  in  arms  to  the  power  of 
the  mother  country  fell  to  his  lot,  at  his  native  place,  on  Sunday  the 
26th  of  February,  1775,  when  the  march  of  Col.  Leslie's  regiment 
of  royal  troops  was  resolutely  intercepted,  and  his  further  progress 
arrested  by  him  at  the  head  of  the  militia,  at  the  bridge  over  the 
North  River.  The  draw  of  the  bridge  was  hoisted,  and  Col.  Pick 
ering  presented  himself  on  the  opposite  side.  He  informed  Col. 
Leslie  that  the  military  stores  he  came  to  seize  were  the  property 
of  the  people,  and  that  they  would  not  be  surrendered  without  a 
struggle.  Col.  Leslie  ordered  his  men  into  a  large  gondola  at  the 
wharf,  to  secure  a  passage  over  the  river.  In  a  moment  Major 
Sprague,  the  owner  of  the  gondola,  sprang  on  board  and  beat  a 
hole  through  the  bottom,  by  which  it  was  sunk.  While  effecting 
this  he  was  wounded  by  the  soldiers  with  their  bayonets,  and  thus 
was  here  shed  the  first  blood  of  the  Revolution.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Barnard  now  interposed,  and  by  judicious  persuasions  prevented 
the  impending  catastrophe  ;  and  Leslie,  pledging  his  honor,  that  if 
Col.  Pickering  would  let  him  pass  the  bridge,  so  that  it  might  ap 
pear  a  voluntary  act  on  his  part,  he  would  abandon  the  attempt  to 
seize  the  stores ;  and  this  being  acceded  to  on  the  part  of  Col.  Pick 
ering,  the  former  returned  immediately  to  his  transports  at  Marble- 
head,  and  re-embarked  his  regiment  from  the  harbor  that  night. 

Col.  Pickering  marched  at  the  head  of  the  Essex  regiment  as 
soon  as  he  heard  of  the  Lexington  affair,  on  the  19th  of  April  of 
the  same  year,  to  Medford,  in  order  to  intercept  the  enemy,  but  was 
not  in  season.  He  also  took  up  the  line  of  march  with  his  regi 
ment  for  the  heights  of  Charlestown  on  the  17th  June,  but  arrived 
too  late  to  participate  in  the  affair  of  Bunker  Hill.  Col.  Pickering 
compiled  a  manual  for  the  drill  and  exercise  of  the  troops,  which 
was  in  general  use  until  the  Baron  Steuben  published  his  more  ex 
tensive  work.  He  was  appointed  the  same  year  a  judge  of  the  com- 


478  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

mon  pleas,  and  succeeded  Mr.  Curwen  as  admiralty  judge  for  the 
district  including  Boston  and  Salem.  In  the  autumn  of  1776,  he 
commanded  the  Essex  regiment  under  General  Washington  in 
New  Jersey. 

The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  General  Washing 
ton  to  Congress,  dated  at  Morristown,  May  24,  1777  : 

"  I  beg  leave  to  inform  Congress,  that,  immediately  after  the 
receipt  of  their  resolve  of  the  26th  of  March,  recommending  the 
office  of  adjutant  general  to  be  filled  by  a  person  of  ability  and 
unsuspected  attachment  to  our  cause,  I  wrote  to  Colonel  Timothy 
Pickering,  of  Salem,  offering  him  the  post,  in  the  first  instance,  and 
transmitting  at  the  same  time  a  letter  to  Colonel  William  R.  Lee, 
whom  Congress  had  been  pleased  to  mention,  to  be  delivered  to 
him  in  case  my  offer  could  not  be  accepted.  This  conduct  in  pre 
ference  of  Col.  Pickering,  I  was  induced  to  adopt  from  the  high 
character  I  had  of  him,  both  as  a  great  military  genius,  cultivated 
by  an  industrious  attention  to  the  study  of  war,  and  as  a  gentleman 
of  liberal  education,  distinguished  zeal,  and  great  method  and  ac 
tivity  in  business.  This  character  of  him  I  had  from  gentlemen  of 
distinction  and  merit,  and  on  whose  judgment  I  could  rely. 

"  When  my  letter  reached  Col.  Pickering,  at  first  view,  he 
thought  his  situation  in  respect  to  public  affairs  would  not  permit 
him  to  accept  the  post.  That  for  Col.  Lee  he  sent  immediately  to 
him,  who,  in  consequence,  repaired  to  head  quarters.  By  Col. 
Lee  I  received  a  letter  from  Col.  Pickering,  stating  more  particu 
larly  the  causes  which  prevented  him  accepting  the  office  when  it 
was  offered,  assuring  me  that  he  would,  in  a  little  time,  accommo 
date  his  affairs  in  such  a  manner  as  to  come  into  any  military  post 
in  which  he  might  be  serviceable  and  thought  equal  to. 

"  Here  I  am  to  mark  with  peculiar  satisfaction,  in  justice  to 
Col.  Lee,  who  has  deservedly  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  good 
officer,  that  he  has  expressed  a  distrust  of  his  abilities  to  fill  the  ap 
pointment  intended  for  him ;  and  hearing  that  Col.  Pickering  would 
accept  it,  he  not  only  offered,  but  wished  to  relinquish  his  claim  to 
it  in  favor  of  him,  whom  he  declared  he  considered,  from  a  very  in 
timate  and  friendly  acquaintance,  as  a  first-rate  military  character ; 
and  that  he  knew  no  gentleman  better  or  so  well  qualified  for  the 
post  among  us.  Matters  being  thus  circumstanced,  and  Colonel  Lee 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  479 

pleased  with  the  command  he  was  in,  I  wrote  to  Col.  Pickering  on 
his  return,  who  accepted  the  office,  and  is  daily  expected." 

He  immediately  marched  with  the  army  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  by  the  side  of  Washington  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  on 
the  14th  September ;  he  was  also  present  at  that  of  Germantown, 
October  4.  He  was  soon  after  elected  by  Congress  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  War,  with  Generals  Gates  and  Mifflin.  The  arrange 
ment  of  the  staff  department  was  also  intrusted  to  him  and  General 
Mifflin.  In  August,  1780,  he  succeeded  Gen.  Greene  as  quarter 
master-general,  and  discharged  the  arduous  and  complicated  duties 
of  that  department  with  promptness  and  fidelity. 

Col.  Pickering  was  employed  in  various  negotiations  with  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  in  1791  was  appointed  postmaster-general,  which 
office  he  held  till  1794,  when  he  succeeded  Gen.  Knox  as  secretary 
of  war.  In  August,  1795,  he  temporarily  had  charge  of  the  state  de 
partment,  and  upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph,  in 
December,  received  the  appointment  of  secretary  of  state.  This 
was  the  last  office  he  held  under  Washington  ;  from  which  he  was 
removed  by  President  Adams,  in  May,  1800.  It  was  this  circum 
stance  to  which  the  eloquent  and  eccentric  John  Randolph  alludes 
when  Col.  Pickering's  political  course  was  attacked  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  some  years  after ;  on  that  occasion  Randolph 
declared  that  he  would  gladly  surrender  all  his  own  riches  and 
honors  to  be  able  to  say,  what  that  patriot  (Pickering)  could  say, 
viz.,  "  that  he  ever  enjoyed  the  unbounded  confidence  of  Washing 
ton  while  living — and  the  enmity  of  his  successor." 

On  Col.  Pickering's  removal  from  office,  he  commenced  the 
settlement  of  new  lands  in  the  back  woods  of  Pennsylvania ;  but 
soon  after  disposing  of  them,  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  at 
Wenham,  near  his  native  town,  he,  like  Cincinnatus,  cultivated 
with  his  own  hands  a  farm  which  he  purchased.  He  could  not 
long  be  spared  from  public  life,  and  from  1803  to  1811  he  was  a 
senator  of  the  United  States,  and  from  1814  to  1817  he  represented 
his  district  in  Congress,  to  the  delight  and  satisfaction  of  his  con 
stituents.  He  died  at  Salem  on  the  29th  June,  1829,  aged  84. 
His  active  life  afforded  but  little  leisure  for  literary  pursuits,  yet 
his  writings  were  vigorous  and  elegant.  From  early  life  he  was  a 
professor  of  Christianity.  In  the  service  of  his  country  he  was 


480  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

faithful,  disinterested,  and  energetic.  His  feelings  were  strong, 
and  in  his  political  controversies  he  was  ardent  and  sometimes  ve 
hement  ;  but  his  exemplary  morals,  strict  integrity,  and  pure  prin 
ciples  satisfied  all  of  his  sincerity.  Col.  Pickering  has  left  a  num 
ber  of  descendants  ;  the  most  distinguished  is  the  great  philologist, 
the  Hon/-John  Pickering,  LL.  D.,  his  eldest  son,  now  president  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

JUDGE  BLOWERS. 

HON.  SAMPSON  SALTER  BLOWERS,  a  native  of  Boston,  and  grand 
son  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Blowers,  second  minister  of  Beverly, 
Massachusetts,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1763,  of  which  in 
stitution  he  is  now  senior  alumnus,  or  the  oldest  living  graduate. 
He  was  born  in  March,  1742,  and  is  consequently  one  hundred 
years  of  age.  He  studied  law  with  Governor  Hutchinson,  and 
married  the  daughter  of  Benjamin  Kent,  a  lawyer  celebrated  for 
his  eccentricity  and  wit.  Mr.  Blowers  was,  with  John  Adams  and 
Josiah  Quincy,  jr.,  engaged  to  defend  Capt.  Preston  and  the  British 
soldiers,  on  their  trial  at  Boston,  November,  1770,  for  what  was 
termed  "  the  Boston  massacre."  On  the  eve  of  the  Revolution,  in 
1774,  he  sailed  for  England,  and  returned  in  the  autumn  of  1778, 
just  in  time  to  find  his  name  in  the  proscribing  act  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Provincial  Assembly.  He  was  forthwith  imprisoned,  but 
soon  liberated  and  sent  in  a  cartel  to  Halifax.  From  this  time  he 
pursued  his  profession  there  ;  was  raised  to  the  supreme  bench  in 
1795 ;  became  the  chief  justice  in  1801,  and  resigned  all  his  honors 
in  1803.  Judge  Blowers  has  never  revisited  his  native  place.  His 
sister  died  at  Boston  in  March,  1842,  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight  • 
she  was  the  widow  of  an  officer  of  marines,  who  fell  on  board  the 
Alliance  frigate,  in  an  action  with  two  British  sloops  of  war,  May, 
1781. 

The  following  notice  of  Judge  Blowers  appeared  in  the  Boston 
Daily  Advertiser,  in  March  last : — 

"  The  old  man  of  whom  ye  spake  ;  is  he  yet  alive  ?" 

The  Hon.  Sampson  Salter  Blowers,  of  Halifax,  [Harvard  Uni 
versity,  1763,]  this  day  completes  his  century  of  years  ;  the  elder 
patriarch  of  Harvard's  LIVING  ALUMNI.  He  was  a  native  of  Boston, 
his  father  living  (as  we  some  time  ago  learned  from  an  authority 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  481 

near  in  blood)  at  the  time  in  Quaker-lane,  now  Congress-street :  a 
nephew  of  Pyam  B.,  merchant,  [H.  U.  1721,]  and  grandson  of  Rev. 
Thomas  B.,  second  minister  of  Beverly,  [H.  U.  1695.]  Young 
Blowers  entered  upon  the  study  of  law  with  Hutchinson,  then  simply 
judge  of  probate  and  lieutenant-governor ;  and  married  the  daughter 
of  Benj.  Kent,  Esq.,*  [H.  U.  1727,]  an  attorney  at  law  in  Boston, 
"  celebrated  for  his  eccentricity  and  wit,"  who,  like  himself,  be 
came  a  refugee,  and  died  in  Halifax,  at  an  advanced  age,  in  1788. 
In  November,  1770,  then  in  his  noviciate  at  the  bar,  he  was  em 
ployed  as  junior  counsel  to  Messrs.  Adams  and  Quincy  (the  latter 
his  classmate)  in  behalf  of  the  eight  British  soldiers  of  the  29th 
regiment  on  their  trial  for  what  was  long  and  most  absurdly  called 
"  the  Boston  massacre."  The  victims  of  that  night  (March  5th, 
1770)  though  magnified  by  the  effervescence  of  the  time  into  mar 
tyrs  of  liberty,  did  but  poor  credit  indeed  to  the  name,  and  as  to 
most  of  them,  abundantly  provoked  the  death  they  found.  Gordon, 
with  strange  looseness  for  one  who  was  writing  in  the  midst  of  the 
scene,  says,  (Vol.  I.  194,)  "  The  soldiers  had  the  same  counsel  as 
their  commander."  But  Robert  Auchmuty,  who  according  to  Eliot 
made,  in  defence  of  Capt.  Preston,  a  plea  so  memorable  and  per 
suasive,  as  "  almost  to  bear  down  the  tide  of  prejudice  against  him, 
though  it  never  swelled  to  a  higher  flood,"  had  no  concern  in  the 
succeeding  trial ;  while  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  certainly  not 
retained  in  the  earlier  one.  On  the  eve  of  the  Revolution  (1774) 
S.  S.  B.,  for  some  reason  or  object  sailed  for  England,  and  returned 
in  the  fall  of  1778,  just  in  time  to  find  his  name  in  the  proscribing 
act  of  the  provincial  assembly  of  Massachusetts,  (October,)  which 

#  Kent  was  a  minister  of  Marlborongh,  a  very  brief  period  [1733-'35]  ; 
though  so  unclerical  was  his  deportment,  and  his  humor,  that  we  might  rather 
have  wondered  had  his  stay  been  longer.  He  removed  to  Boston  j  and  so  late 
as  1709,  his  name  is  found,  in  somewhat  odd  association,  with  those  of  the 
most  prominent  and  strenuous  Whigs  of  the  place,  as  a  committee  of  safety 
in  a  communication  to  Dr.  Franklin.  To  him  it  is,  we  suppose,  that  the  doc 
tor,  in  a  letter  written  from  Philadelphia,  within  the  last  year  and  a  half  of 
his  own  life  refers  : — "  You  tell  me  our  poor  friend  Ben  Kent  is  gone  ;  I  hope 
to  the  regions  of  the  blessed  :  or  at  least  to  some  place  where  souis  are  pre 
pared  for  those  regions.  I  found  my  hope  on  this,  that  though  not  so  orthodox 
as  you  and  I,  he  was  an  honest  man  and  had  his  virtues.  If  he  had  any  hy 
pocrisy,  it  was  of  that  inverted  kind,  with  which  a  man  is  not  so  bad  as  he 
seems  to  be."  (See  Sparka's  Franklin,  VII.  366,  X.  460.) 

61 


482  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

could  not  then  have  been  passed  many  weeks.  He  was  imprisoned 
forthwith  ;  but  within  the  next  fortnight  was  despatched  in  a  cartel 
to  Halifax.  From  this  time,  as  we  are  told,  he  steadfastly  pursued 
his  profession  there  ;  being  raised  to  the  supreme  bench  in  1795, 
becoming  its  presiding  head  in  1801,  and  resigning  all  his  honors  in 
1833. 

Though  his  lot  was  cast  with  the  obnoxious  side,  Judge  B. 
stood  by  no  means  alone  among  his  companions.  The  class  of 
1763  was  fruitful  in  loyalists,  generally  also  refugees: — Bliss  of 
Springfield,  and  Upham  of  Brookfield,  (the  last,  father  of  the  pre 
sent  minister  of  Salem,)  were  constituted  a  few  years  after  judges 
of  the  highest  court  of  New  Brunswick;*  Dr.  John  Jeffries  of  Bos 
ton,  (after  signalizing  himself  in  a  then  novel  sphere,)  returned  a 
few  years  in  the  rear  of  the  peace,  to  resume  practice  in  his  native 
town ;  Hooper  of  Marblehead,  second  son  of  "  old  King  Robert," 
and  Porter,  for  a  time  an  eminent  attorney  in  Salem,  both  died  in 
England. 

Judge  B.  has  left  behind  him  in  the  race  the  longest-lived  of 
his  classmates  by  more  than  TEN  years.  Col.  Pickering,  of  Salem, 
one  of  the  three  latest  survivors,  died  Jan.  29,  1829.  The  last  of 
the  trio,  Samuel  Perley,  settled  successively  at  three  several  places 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  finally  in  Gray,  Maine,  finished  his  course 
at  the  latter,  November  28,  1831.  Of  the  thirty-six  hundred  de 
parted  sons  of  Harvard,  our  living  Methuselah  (with  the  exception 
of  the  venerated  Dr.  Holyoke)  has  alone  fairly  rounded  his  century ; 
Mr.  Porter,  of  Ashfield,  on  Connecticut  river  [H.  U.  1745]  who 
died  February,  1820,  having  failed  only  one  month  of  that  honor 
able  mark.f 

*  No  other  class  perhaps  can  show  so  many  instances  of  the  highest 
judicial  elevation.  Three  refugee  judges  of  the  supreme  court !  to  which  must 
be  added  the  Hon.  Nathan  Cushing,  of  Scituate — a  zealous  Whig — who  deeply 
ingratiated  himself  with  the  popular  party  by  the  spirit  of  his  decisions,  as 
first  judge  of  admiralty  in  1776,  against  captured  British  vessels  ;  and  who  at 
a  later  period  [1789-1801]  was  one  of  the  highest  bench  of  Massachusetts. 
There  is  yet  one  other  distinction  to  which  the  class  of  1763  appropriates. 
The  first  English  Oration,  ever  heard  upon  the  Commencement  boards  was 
pronounced  by  Jed,  Huntington  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  (afterwards  well  known 
as  a  general  officer  in  our  revolutionary  contest,  and  father  of  the  late  Rev. 
Josh.  Huntington,  of  the  Old  South  Church.) 

t  In  such  a  connection  as  this,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  narrow  circle  who 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  483 

That  the  usual  concomitants  of  such  longevity  should  be  here 
also  found  in  its  train,  few  will  probably  be  surprised  to  read.  It 
has  been  well  known  for  four  or  five  years  past  that  decay  had 
been  coming  over  the  mind  of  this  centennial  patriarch ;  and  on 
the  recent  progress  (autumn  of  1840)  of  the  Hon.  J.  Q.  Adams 
through  the  provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  by  whom  Judge  B.  also  was 
visited,  this  fact  was  anew  confirmed. 

This  notice  must  not  be  closed  without  adding,  what  all  readers 
(it  need  hardly  be  qualified)  will  be  surprised  to  be  told  : — There 
yet  lives  in  this  city,  long  sequestered  from  the  world,  a  sister  of  the 
distinguished  graduate,  before  us,  a  widow  of  more  than  sixty  years' 
date,  "whose  days  have  almost  even  run  with  his,"  (ninety-eight,) 
a  coincidence  alike  extraordinary  and  interesting.  The  husband 

are  curious  in  such  matters,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  specify  the  twelve  alumni 
who  have  reached  the  highest  point  of  longevity.  Those  unasterized,  it  will 
be  observed,  we  presume  not  to  number  their  days,  but  give  their  age  at  the 
moment  we  are  writing, 

*  1740.     Dr.  E.  A.  Holyoke,  of  Salem,  died  March  31,  1S29,  100  years  7 
months. 

1763.     Hon.  S.  S.  Blowers,  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  100  years. 

*  1745.     Rev.  N.  Porter,  minister  of  Chebacco  parish  (Ipswich)  and  of  Ash- 
field,  died  February  29,  1820,  99  years  11  months. 

*  1759.     Hon.  Paine  Wingate,  minister  a  few  years  at  Hampton  Falls, 
N.  H.,  and  afterwards  in  high  civil  trusts,  died  at  Stratham,  N.  H.,  March  7, 
1838,  98  years  and  10  months. 

*  1744.     Col.  Peter  Frye,  formerly  of  Salem,  and  in  various  public  trusts, 
died  (as  a  refugee)  at  Camberwell,  Surrey,  near  London,  February  1,  1820, 
(his  birthday,)  97  years. 

*  1712.     Mr.  John  Nutting,  Salem,  successively  grammar  schoolmaster, 
register  of  deeds,  and  collector  of  the  port,  at  different  times,  died  May  20, 
1790,  96  years  4  months. 

*  1753.     Rev.  Peter  Thacher  Smith,  minister  of  Windham,  Me.  [1762-'90] 
d.  as  P.  T.  S.  "Esq.,"  October,  1826,  95  years  3  months. 

1765.     Dr.  Ezra  Green,  surgeon  in  the  continental  navy,  under  John  Paul 
Jones,  and  since  physician  in  Dover,  N.  H.,  95  years  ten  months. 

*  1728.     Thaddeus  Mason,  Esq.,  register  of  deeds  for  Middlesex,  died  at 
Cambridge,  May  1,  1802,  95  years  4  months. 

1767.     Hon.  Timothy  Farrar,  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  formerly  a  judge  of 
the  S.  J.  C.  of  N.  H.,  94  years  8  months. 

*  1741.     Mr.  Joseph   Waldo,  merchant  in   Boston,  died  (as    a   refugee) 
in  Bristol,  England,  April,  1816,  94  years. 

*  1710.     Rev.  Joseph  Adams,  minister  of  Newington,  N.  H.,  37i  years, 
died  May  26,  1783,  94  years. 

April  2,  1842. 


484  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

of  the  latter,  a  lieutenant  of  marines  in  the  celebrated  and  ever- 
fortunate  Alliance  frigate,  fell  in  an  engagement  of  that  ship  on 
her  passage  from  France,  with  two  sloops  of  war,  May,  1781. 
Though  not  wanting  in  inducements  to  the  contrary  therefore,  it  is 
worthy  of  record  that  Judge  B.  has  never,  as  we  are  told,  revisited 
his  native  place,  since  he  went  forth  from  it  an  exile  with  the  fla 
ming  sword  behind  him,  interdicting  his  return. 

T.  BRINLEY. 

THOMAS  BRINLEY,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1744.  He  was  an  "  addresser"  of  Gov.  Gage  and  Gov. 
Hutchinson.  A  refugee  in  England  in  1775.  Proscribed  in  the 
act  of  banishment  of  the  assembly  of  Massachusetts,  Sept.,  1788. 
Probably  died  abroad. 

N.  COFFIN. 

NATHANIEL  COFFIN,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  the  father  of  Sir  Isaac  Coffin, 
Bart,  who  was  his  fourth  and  youngest  son.  Mr.  Coffin  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1744  ;  was  cashier  of  the  customs  at  Boston ; 
an  "  addresser"  of  Gov.  Gage  ;  a  refugee  in  1775 ;  was  proscribed 
in  the  banishment  act  of  1778,  and  died  in  England  before  Novem 
ber,  1783. 

GOV.  CASWELL. 

HON.  RICHARD  CASWELL,  of  North  Carolina,  at  the  head  of  a 
regiment  Feb.  1776  ;  he  defeated  General  McDonald  with  a  party 
of  fifteen  hundred  Scottish  emigrants  and  ignorant  and  disorderly 
frontier  inhabitants,  styling  themselves  "  loyalist  regulators"  at 
Morris  Creek  bridge,  about  sixteen  miles  from  Wilmington,  with 
the  loss  of  seventy  killed  and  wounded,  and  fifteen  hundred  excel 
lent  rifles.  His  force  was  but  one  thousand  strong,  and  the  victory 
of  essential  service  to  the  American  cause. 

Besides  being  a  member  of  the  first  congress,  he  was  president 
of  the  convention  which  formed  the  constitution  of  North  Carolina, 
under  which  he  was  governor  from  1777  to  1780,  and  from  1785 
to  1787.  He  died  at  Fayetteville,  Nov.  20,  1789.  His  equanimity 
of  temper  endeared  him  to  his  friends  and  commanded  the  respect 
of  his  opponents  ;  for  his  constant  watchfulness  of  the  welfare  of 
the  people  and  his  private  virtues  prevented  his  having  enemies. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  485 


JOSEPH  HEWES. 

HON.  JOSEPH  HEWES,  of  North  Carolina,  as  a  member  of  con 
gress  early  patronized  the  celebrated  John  Paul  Jones,  and  was 
ever  his  confidential  correspondent.  It  is  to  Mr.  Hewes's  discrimi 
nating  judgment  of  character,  in  no  small  degree,  that  we  owe  the 
train  of  unsurpassed  naval  victories  achieved  by  that  hero ;  for 
there  was  great  opposition  to  his  preferment  on  the  score  of 
foreign  birth  and  want  of  influential  connections,  which  latter  con 
sideration  had  great  weight  at  that  period.  Jones  relied  inplicitly 
on  Mr.  Hewes,  and  in  a  letter  says,  "  I  will  cheerfully  abide  by 
whatever  you  think  right,"  and  to  him  he  referred  the  Hon.  Robert 
Morris,  respecting  his  claim  for  rank,  who  ever  after  was  his  friend. 

DR.  SHIPPEN. 

WILLIAM  SHIPPEN,  M.  D.  of  Philadelphia,  graduated  at  Nassau 
Hall,  New  Jersey,  in  1754,  and  completed  a  medical  education  at 
Edinburgh.  He  delivered  in  1764,  at  Philadelphia,  the  first  course 
of  anatomical  lectures  ever  pronounced  in  America.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  medical  school,  which  finally  rivalled  that  of  Edin 
burgh.  He  was  early  opposed  to  "  the  supremacy  of  parliament 
over  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever"  and,  in  1777,  was  ap 
pointed  director  general  of  the  medical  department  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States.  Dr.  Shippen  died  at  Germantown,  July  11, 
1808,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

GOV.  MIFFLIN. 

THOS.  MIFFLIN,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  actively  engaged  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  measures  of  the  British  parliament.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  first  congress  in  1774,  and  was  among  the  first  commissioned 
at  the  organization  of  the  continental  army,  having  been  appointed 
quarter-master-general.  In  October,  1788,  he  succeeded  Dr. 
Franklin  as  president  of  the  supreme  executive  council.  In  Sep 
tember,  1790,  the  constitution  for  Pennsylvania  was  formed  by  a 
convention,  over  which  he  was  chosen  the  first  governor.  He  pos 
sessed  extraordinary  powers  of  elocution,  which  he  exercised  with 
success  during  the  insurrection  in  Pennsylvania  in  1794.  He 
retired  from  the  gubernatorial  chair  at  the  cxose  of  the  year  1799, 


486  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

and  on  the  20th  Jan.  1800,  died  at  Lancaster  in  the  fifty-seventh 
year  of  his  age. 

JUDGE  ALLEN. 

WILLIAM  ALLEN,  chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  son  of 
William  Allen,  an  eminent  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  in 
1725.  On  the  approach  of  the  Revolution  he  retired  to  England, 
where  he  died,  September,  1780.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
Andrew  Hamilton,  whom  he  succeeded  as  recorder  of  Philadelphia 
in  1741.  He  was  much  distinguished  as  a  friend  to  literature. 
He  patronized  Benjamin  West,  the  historical  painter.  By  his 
counsels  and  exertions  Dr.  Franklin  was  much  assisted  in  estab 
lishing  the  college  in  Philadelphia.  He  published  "  the  American 
Crisis,"  London,  1774,  in  which  he  suggests  a  plan  "  for  restoring 
the  dependence  of  America  to  a  state  of  perfection."  His  princi 
ples  seem  to  have  been  not  a  little  arbitrary.  On  his  resignation 
of  the  office  of  chief  justice,  to  which  he  had  been  appointed  in 
1750,  he  was  succeeded  till  the  Revolution  by  Mr.  Chew,  attorney- 
general,  and  Mr.  Chew  by  his  son  Andrew  Allen.  This  son  died 
in  London,  March  7,  1825,  aged  eighty-five.  At  the  close  of  1776 
he  put  himself  under  the  protection  of  Gen.  Howe,  at  Treiiton, 
with  his  brothers  John  and  William.  He  had  been  a  member  of 
congress  and  of  the  committee  of  safety  •  and  William  a  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  continental  service. 

GEN.  REED, 

JOSEPH  REED  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall,  New  Jersey,  in  1757. 
He  engaged  with  zeal  in  opposition  to  parliament,  was  of  the  com 
mittee  of  correspondence,  and  afterwards  president  of  the  conven 
tion  of  New  Jersey.  On  the  organization  of  the  army,  he  became 
first  aid  to  ^General  Washington ;  the  next  year  adjutant-general. 
While  he  was  a  member  of  congress,  in  1778,  the  commissioners 
from  England  arrived,  and  one  of  them,  Gov.  Johnstone,  addressed 
private  letters  to  him,  Francis  Dana,  and  Robert  Morris,  to  secure 
their  influence  towards  the  restoration  of  harmony,  with  intimations 
of  honors  and  emoluments.  Mr.  Reed's  former  despondence  being 
known,  a  lady,  supposed  to  be  the  wife  of  Dr.  Adam  Ferguson,  (the 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  487 

secretary  of  the  commissioners,)  assured  him  as  from  Gov.  John- 
stone,  that  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  and  the  best  office  in 
America  should  be  at  his  disposal,  if  he  would  effect  a  reunion. 
He  replied  that  "  he  was  not  worth  purchasing,  but  such  as  he 
was,  the  king  of  Great  Britain  was  not  rich  enough  to  do  it." 

In  October,  1778,  he  was  chosen  president  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  office  he  held  till  the  autumn  of  1781.  He  died  March  5, 
1785,  aged  forty -three,  having  visited  England  for  his  health  the 
year  before  without  good  effect. 

Mr.  Reed  published  remarks  on  Gov.  Johnstone's  speech  in 
parliament,  with  authentic  papers  relative  to  his  propositions  in 
1779,  and  an  address  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  in  1783. 

WILLIAM  PYNCHON. 

WILLIAM  PYNCHON,  Esq.,  an  eminent  counsellor  at  law,  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  was  a  loyalist,  but  did  not  leave  the  country.  The 
windows  of  his  house  in  Summer-street  were  broken  by  the  mob 
on  demanding  his  recantation  as  a  Hutchinsonian  addresser,  pre 
vious  to  the  Revolution;  and  he  left  them  long  in  ruins,  except  that 
they  were  boarded  up,  in  testimony  of  the  licentiousness  and  law 
lessness  of  the  times.  Mr.  Pynchon  was  a  native  of  Springfield, 
and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1743 ;  he  died,  March  14, 
1789,  aged  sixty-eight. 

JOSEPH  LEE. 

HON.  JOSEPH  LEE,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  was  the  son  of  a  Salem 
merchant.  Having  remained  in  Boston  during  the  siege,  he  sub 
jected  himself  to  unpopularity  with  the  patriots,  although  his  luke- 
warmness  in  the  loyalist  principles  prevented  his  becoming  an 
object  of  public  notice.  He  was  judge  of  the  common  pleas  for 
Middlesex ;  and  died  at  his  seat  in  Cambridge,  December,  1802, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three  years.  His  brother,  Thomas 
Lee,  Esq.,  a  merchant  of  Salem,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1722 ;  and  during  the  revolutionary  war  resided  at  Newark,  New 
Jersey.  He  had  been  appointed  mandamus  counsellor,  but  was 
compelled  by  the  people  to  resign,  Sept.  2,  1775. 

JUDGE  OLIVER. 
HON.  ANDREW  OLIVER,  of  Salem,  son  of  Lieut.  Gov-  Andrew 


488  BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES. 

Oliver,  and  nephew  of  Chief  Justice  Peter  Oliver,  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1749 ;  studied  law ;  was  often  a  representative 
to  the  assembly,  and  a  judge  of  the  common  pleas  for  Essex 
previous  to  the  Revolution.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  a  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  at  Philadelphia ;  he  was  reckoned 
among  the  best  scholars  of  his  day,  and  possessed  fine  talents. 
Judge  Oliver  was  never  fond  of  public  life,  but  ardently  attached 
to  his  books  and  his  friends.  Besides  an  Essay  on  Comets,  which 
was  published  in  1772,  several  valuable  communications  of  his 
are  contained  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  American 
Academy.  He  was  honored  with  a  commission  of  mandamus  coun 
sellor,  which  he  declined ;  he  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Chief 
Justice  Lynde,  and  several  descendants  remain  of  the  second  and 
third  generations ;  he  died  in  December,  1799,  aged  sixty-eight. 
Judge  Oliver  was  a  loyalist,  and  the  only  member  of  his  family 
who  did  not  renounce  his  country  in  consequence  of  the  Revolution. 

BENJAMIN  GOODHUE. 

HON.  BENJAMIN  GOODHUE,  was  born  at  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
October  1,  1748,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1766.  He 
early  embarked  in  commerce,  with  credit  and  success ;  he  was  a 
whig  of  the  Revolution ;  represented  the  county  of  Essex  in  the 
senate  of  his  native  state,  from  1784  to  1789,  when  he  was  elected 
a  representative  to  the  first  United  States  Congress  under  the  new 
constitution ;  and  with  Mr.  Fitzsimmons  of  Philadelphia,  formed 
our  code  of  revenue  laws,  a  majority  of  which  have  remained  in 
force  to  this  day.  In  1796,  Mr.  Goodhue  was  elected  a  senator  in 
congress  for  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  distinguished  as  chair 
man  of  the  committee  of  commerce,  but  resigned  and  retired  from 
public  life  in  1800  ;  his  colleague  in  the  senate  was  Caleb 
Strong,  for  many  successive  years  the  popular  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Mr.  Goodhue's  politics  were  of  the  Washington  school; 
and  that  party  is  now  generally  admitted  to  have  been  the  purest 
ever  known  in  our  country.  He  died  July  28,  1814,  leaving  an 
irreproachable  name  to  his  only  surviving  son,  Jonathan  Goodhue, 
Esq.,  of  New-York  ;  a  merchant,  who  in  character  and  credit  has 
stood  second  to  none  in  this  commercial  emporium,  during  a  resi 
dence  of  thirty-six  years. 


BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES.  489 

DR.  HOLYOKE. 

EDWARD  AUGUSTUS  HOLYOKE,  M.D.,  L.L.D.,  son  of  President 
Holyoke  of  Harvard  College,  was  born  August  13,  1728,  and 
graduated  in  1746.  In  1755,  he  married  Judith,  daughter  of  Col. 
Benjamin  Pickman  of  Salem ;  and  after  her  death,  which  occurred 
within  the  year,  Mary,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Viall,  Esq.,  of  Boston. 
"  The  period  of  the  Revolution  was  a  trying  one  to  him,  and  he 
never  loved  to  dwell  upon  the  recollection  of  it ;  his  feelings  in 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1775  were  intensely  painful.  In  referring 
to  that  period,  he  said  he  thought  he  should  have  died  with  the 
sense  of  weight  and  oppression  at  his  heart ;  he  had  sent  his  family 
to  Nantucket,  and  the  loneliness  of  his  home  increased  the  feeling 
of  desolation.  Most  of  his  intimate  friends  and  near  connections 
favored  the  royal  cause  ;  and  his  own  education  had  attached  him 
to  the  established  order  of  things,  while  his  peaceful  temper  shrunk 
from  the  turmoil  of  a  revolution.  Although  most  distinguished  men 
who  had  adopted  the  royal  cause,  found  it  expedient  to  leave  the 
country,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  ever  impeded  in  the  prose 
cution  of  his  professional  business  or  studies  for  a  single  day.  Once 
only  he  committed  himself,  by  signing  a  complimentary  address 
to  Governor  Hutchinson,  in  common  writh  a  number  of  the  most 
distinguished  citizens  of  the  town  of  Salem,  when  the  governor 
was  about  leaving  the  country.  He  afterwards  felt  himself  obliged, 
as  well  as  a  number  of  his  associates,  to  publish  a  sort  of  apology 
for  this  act ;  which  "  recantation"  as  it  was  called,  contained 
nothing  that  was  servile  or  disgraceful.  He  died  March  31,  1829, 
at  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  years. 

"  In  deeds  of  piety  and  benevolence  he  was  ever  active,  and 
his  gifts  were  bestowed  with  the  most  scrupulous  secrecy ;  and 
from  his  intimacy  in  the  families  of  all  classes,  seldom  misapplied." 

He  had  been  a  practising  physician  in  Salem  for  seventy-nine 
years.  On  some  days  he  made  a  hundred  visits;  and  at  one 
period,  there  was  not  a  dwelling-house  in  Salem  which  he  had 
not  visited  professionally.  About  fifty  medical  gentlemen  of  Boston 
and  Salem  gave  him  a  public  dinner  on  his  centennial  anniversary. 

JUDGE  LYNDE. 

HON.  BENJAMIN  LYNDE,  of  Salem,  chief  justice  of  the  supreme 

62 


490  BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES. 

court,  (as  was  his  father  of  the  same  name,)  was  born  at  Salem, 
and  graduated  in  1718,  at  Harvard  College.  He  was  judge  of 
probate  from  1745  to  1771;  he  presided  in  November,  1770,  at 
the  trial  of  Captain  Preston  and  his  soldiers,  for  the  part  they  took 
in  what  was  called  "  the  Boston  massacre."  He  resigned  his  seat 
on  the  bench  of  the  supreme  court  in  1771,  and  died  October  3, 
1781,  aged  eighty-one.  It  was  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that 
father  and  son  should  have  been  chief  justices  of  the  supreme 
court,  and  occupied  a  seat  on  that  bench  between  them  for  nearly 
sixty  years.  Judge  Lynde's  daughter,  Mary,  was  the  wife  of  the 
Hon.  Andrew  Oliver  of  Salem,  author  of  the  Essay  on  Comets. 

JUDGE  ROPES. 

HON.  NATHANIEL  ROPES,  of  Salem,  born  in  1727,  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1745,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  law.  The  violent  measures  in  opposition  to  government  were 
obnoxious  to  him ;  and  when  he  found  he  could  no  longer  be  use 
ful  there,  he  retired  from  the  council  in  1769,  and  from  the  bench 
of  the  superior  court  just  before  his  death,  in  the  spring  of  1774;  he 
was  firm  in  loyalist  principles. 

After  ineffectual  negotiations  with  Gov.  Hutchinson,  the  in 
flexible  assertor  of  royal  prerogative,  at  the  termination  of  the  first 
session  of  1773,  it  was  resolved,  "  that  any  of  the  judges  who  while 
they  hold  their  offices  during  pleasure  shall  accept  support  from  the 
crown,  independent  of  the  grants  of  the  general  court,  will  discover 
that  he  is  an  enemy  to  the  constitution,  and  has  it  in  his  heart  to 
promote  the  establishment  of  arbitrary  government."  In  February, 
1774,  four  of  the  judges,  Trowbridge,  Hutchinson,  Ropes  and 
Gushing,  on  the  appeal  being  made  by  the  assembly,  replied  that 
they  had  received  no  part  of  the  allowance  from  the  king ;  which 
was  deemed  satisfactory.  Judge  Ropes'  house  was  assailed,  not 
withstanding,  by  a  mob,  and  the  furniture  and  windows  throughout 
broken  the  night  before  his  death,  (by  small-pox,)  which  event  it 
doubtless  accelerated. 

With  the  exception  of  the  reports  of  his  decisions  in  the  su 
preme  court,  the  following  obituary  notice  from  his  political  oppo 
nents  is  all  that  is  on  record  respecting  him  : 

From  the  Essex  Gazette,  March  22,  1774. 

"  Died,  on  the  18th  inst,  in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  491 

Hon.  Nathaniel  Ropes,  some  years  since  representative  of  this  town 
in  the  general  assembly,  afterwards  a  member  of  the  council, 
chief  justice  of  the  common  pleas,  and  judge  of  probate  of  wills 
for  the  county  of  Essex,  and  also  a  justice  of  the  superior  court  for 
this  province." 

Judge  Ropes  married  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Sparhawk 
of  Salem,  and  their  deceased  sons  were  merchants  of  that  place. 
Nathaniel  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Putnam,  and  John  a  daugh 
ter  of  Jonathan  Haraden,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  naval  commander 
in  the  Revolution  against  Great  Britain.  Their  daughters  married 
William  Orne,  Jonathan  Hodges,  and  Samuel  Curwen  Ward,  also 
merchants  of  Salem,  all  deceased  ;  of  their  descendants  many  are 
now  living. 

THOMAS  ROBIE. 

THOMAS  ROBIE,  Esq.,  of  Marblehead,  a  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Ro- 
bie,  who  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1708,  and  after 
being  a  resident  fellow  or  tutor  there,  established  himself  in  the 
practice  of  physic  at  Salem,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Major  Ste 
phen  Sewall.  The  subject  of  this  notice  became  a  merchant,  and 
married  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Simon  Bradstreet,  who  was  the 
grea  -grandson  of  Gov.  Bradstreet,  called  the  "  Nestor  of  New 
England."  Mr.  Robie  being  strongly  on  the  side  of  the  royal 
government,  was  an  addresser  of  Gov.  Hutchinson,  and  quitted  the 
country  about  the  commencement  of  the  war ;  he  first  went  to 
Halifax,  but  afterwards  to  London,  February  5,  1776.  He  passed 
his  time  of  exile  mostly  in  Halifax,  where  one  of  his  daughters 
married  Jonathan  Stearns,  Esq.,  another  refugee,  who  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1770,  became  attorney-general  of  Nova 
Scotia,  and  died  1798 ;  another  was  married  to  Joseph  Sewall, 
Esq.,  late  treasurer  of  Massachusetts.  His  son,  Simon  Bradstreet 
Robie,  Esq.,  of  Halifax,  solicitor  of  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia,  is 
a  gentleman  of  great  wealth  and  respectability.  Mr.  Thomas  Robie 
returned  after  the  peace,  and  re-embarked  in  commercial  pursuits 
in  Salem,  to  a  limited  extent.  He  was  amiable,  intelligent  and 
exemplary,  and  died  at  Salem  about  thirty  years  since,  well  es 
teemed. 


492  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES. 

JOHN  SARGENT. 

JOHN  SARGENT,  Esq.,  a  merchant  of  Salem,  \vho  became  a  refu 
gee  and  was  banished  by  the  act  of  1778. 

JUDGE  CHIPMAN. 

HON.  WARD  CHIPMAN  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1770, 
grandson  of  Rev.  John  Chipman  of  Beverly,  and  son  of  John  C., 
Esq.,  of  Marblehead.  Mr.  Chipman  studied  law  in  company  with 
Jonathan  Sewall  and  Thomas  Aston  Coffin,  (a  cousin  of  Sir  Isaac 
Coffin,)  afterward  secretary  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and  in  1784 
commissary-general  at  Quebec.  Mr.  Chipman  became  judge  of 
the  supreme  judicial  court  of  New  Brunswick,  and  died  at  Freder- 
icton,  February  9,  1824.  He  was  brother-in-law  of  the  late  Hon. 
William  Gray,  and  retained  an  affection  for  New  England,  though 
an  exile.  His  son,  of  the  same  name,  and  successor  to  his  station 
and  honors,  was  the  most  conspicuous  member  of  the  class  which 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1805. 

COL.  MURRAY. 

COL.  JOHN  MURRAY  was  a  representative  of  influence  in  the  assem 
bly  of  Massachusetts  for  many  years  from  Rutland.  Daniel  Bliss, 
Esq.  married  one  of  his  daughters,  the  other  the  Hon.  Joshua  Up- 
ham,  aid  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  afterward  judge  of  supreme  court, 
Brunswick.  His  son  Daniel  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1771 ; 
a  mandamus  counsellor,  was  a  major  of  dragoons,  proscribed  in 
1778 ;  lived  on  half-pay  1830.  His  son  Samuel  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  1772,  acccornpanied  the  British  troops  to  Lexing 
ton  in  1775,  and  died  before  1785 ;  he  was  proscribed  in  1778. 

BENJAMIN  FANEUIL. 

BENJAMIN  FANEUIL,  Esq.,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  and  with  Joshua 
Winslow,  consignee  of  one-third  of  the  East  India  Company's  tea 
destroyed  in  1773 ;  was  a  refugee  to  Halifax,  afterwards  in  Eng 
land. 

JAMES  BOUTINEAU. 

JAMES  BOUTINEAU,  Esq.,  attorney  of  Boston,  father-in-law  of  John 
Robinson,  commissioner  of  customs,  who  made  the  personal  attack 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  493 

on  James  Otis,  Esq.,  which  produced  so  great  a  derangement  of  mind 
in  the  latter,  as  to  lead  to  his  withdrawal  from  the  public  service. 

CAPT.  FENTON. 

CAPT.  JOHN  FENTON,  expelled,  being  a  loyalist,  from  the  assem 
bly  of  New  Hampshire,  July,  1775,  on  which  account  he  expressed 
himself  freely  as  to  public  measures.  This  enraged  the  populace, 
and  he  fled  to  the  governor  for  protection  ;  they  placed  a  mounted 
field-piece  before  the  door,  threatening  to  discharge  it,  when  he 
was  delivered  up  and  sent  to  Exeter  for  trial.  Gov.  Wentworth 
upon  this  took  refuge  in  the  fort. 

Capt.  Fenton  had  been  a  captain  in  the  navy,  but  sold  out  his 
commission;  he  was  permitted  to  retreat  to  England. 

JOHN  ERVING,  JUN. 

COL.  JOHN  ERVING,  son  of  Hon.  John  E.,  of  Boston,  graduated 
at  Harvard  College,  1747,  was  colonel  of  the  Boston  regiment  of 
militia,  a  warden  of  Trinity  church,  a  mandamus  counsellor  in 
1774,  a  refugee,  proscribed  in  1778,  died  at  Bath,  England,  June 
17,  1816,  aged  eighty -nine.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Gov. 
Shirley ;  his  son,  Dr.  Shirley  Erving,  entered  Harvard  College  in 
1773,  but  his  education  was  cut  short  by  the  Revolution  ;  he  be 
came  a  respectable  physician  at  Portland,  Me.,  and  died  at  Boston, 
July  7,  1813,  aged  nfty.five.  The  widow  of  Dr.  Erving  is  still 
living  at  Boston,  aged  eighty-two.  She  has  two  sons  and  one 
daughter;  the  latter  the  wife  of  Rev.  B.  C.  C.  Parker,  of  the  Epis 
copal  church. 

JONATHAN  SIMPSON. 

JONATHAN  SIMPSON  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1772,  son-in- 
law  to  John  Borland,  Cambridge ;  was  a  refugee,  proscribed  in 
1778  ;  was  a  commissary  of  provisions  in  the  British  army,  at 
Charleston,  S.  C. ;  closed  his  days  at  Boston,  December  7,  1804, 
aged  eighty-two. 

RICHARD  ROUTH. 

HON.  RICHARD  ROUTH  was  collector  of  the  customs  at  Salem  ; 
married  Abigail,  a  daughter  of  Wm.  Eppes,  Esq.,  Virginia,  (a 


494  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

granddaughter  of  Col.  Benjamin  Pickman,  of  Salem.)  At  the 
death  of  Mr.  Eppes,  which  soon  after  occurred,  his  widow  married 
Dr.  Sylvester  Gardner  of  Boston.  Mr.  Routh  became  a  refugee, 
and  was  collector  of  the  customs  for  the  island  of  Newfoundland, 
and  subsequently  its  chief  justice  ;  he  died  in  1801.  His  son,  Sir 
Randolph  Isham  Routh,  is  commissary-general  to  the  British  army 
in  Canada ;  another  son,  H.  L.  Routh,  Esq.,  is  a  merchant  of  high 
character  in  New-York  ;  others  are  engaged  in  commerce  in  dif 
ferent  parts  of  Europe. 

DR.  BYLES. 

REV.  MATHER  BYLES,  son  of  the  Rev.  Mather  Byles,  D.  D., 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1751,  was  minister  at  New  London, 
Conn.,  the  desk  of  which  was  closed  to  him  in  1768 ;  he  was  then 
an  Episcopal  minister  of  Boston  till  the  Revolution,  when  he  was  a 
refugee,  and  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1788.  He  died  a  rector  at  St. 
John's,  New  Brunswick,  in  March,  1814. 

The  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Byles  was  a  distinguished  minister 
and  loyalist  of  Boston  ;  and  for  his  political  principles  was,  during 
the  violent  times  of  1777,  separated  from  his  people,  to  whom  he 
was  never  afterwards  united.  In  1776,  he  was  denounced  in  town 
meeting  as  inimical  to  his  country,  and  obliged  to  enter  into  bonds 
for  his  appearance  at  a  public  trial  before  a  special  court,  at  which 
he  was  pronounced  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  confinement  on  board 
a  guard  ship,  and  in  forty  days  to  be  sent  to  England  with  his 
family.  When  brought  before  the  board  of  war,  by  whom  he  was 
treated  respectfully,  his  sentence  seems  to  have  been  altered,  and  it 
was  directed  that  he  should  be  confined  to  his  own  house,  and  there 
guarded.  After  a  few  weeks  the  guard  was  removed ;  a  short 
time  after,  a  guard  was  again  placed  over  him,  and  again  dismissed. 
Upon  this  occasion  he  observed,  in  his  own  manner,  that  "  he  was 
guarded,  reguarded,  and  disregarded."  The  substance  of  the 
charges  against  him  was,  that  he  continued  in  Boston  with  his 
family  during  the  siege ;  that  he  prayed  for  the  king,  and  the 
safety  of  the  town.  He  died  July  5,  1788,  aged  eighty-two.  Dr. 
Byles's  first  wife  was  a  niece  of  Gov.  Belcher,  and  his  second,  the 
daughter  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Tailer.  His  literary  mer  t  intro 
duced  him  to  the  acquaintance  of  many  men  of  genius  in  England ; 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  495 

the  names  of  Pope,  Lansdown,  and  Watts  are  found  among  his 
correspondents.  Pope  sent  him  a  copy  of  his  Odyssey  in  quarto, 
and  from  Dr.  Watts  he  received  copies  of  his  works  as  he  published 
them. 

Mr.  Mather  Brown,  afterwards  artist  to  the  king,  a  grandson 
of  Dr.  Byles,  embarked  for  Europe  in  1780,  with  a  letter  of  intro 
duction  from. his  grandfather  to  Harrison  Gray,  Esq.,  London,  a 
firm  friend  of  the  family. 

Mr.  Copley  had  likewise  been  intimate  with  Dr.  Byles  before 
he  left  Boston.  An  amusing  little  circumstance  took  place  the 
morning  after  the  birth  of  Mather  Brown.  Mr.  Copley  entered  the 
house  full  of  gaiety  and  animation,  and  after  congratulating  the 
family,  requested  to  see  the  infant.  The  nurse  brought  it ;  he 
caught  it  from  her  arms  and  ran  down  stairs  with  it ;  the  nurse, 
not  understanding  the  matter,  followed  him  in  great  consternation, 
entreating  for  the  child.  WThen  he  reached  the  street  door  he  laid 
it  carefully  on  the  mat,  and  left  the  house.  It  is  to  this  circum 
stance  that  the  following  letter  of  introduction  alludes. 

"  A  certain  ancient  gentleman  in  New  England  dictates  the 
following  words  : 

"  Boston,  December  5,  1780. 
"  MY  DEAR  COPLEY  : 

"  Do  you  forget  your  old  connections  ?  I  am  always  rejoicing 
to  hear  of  your  reputation  and  felicities,  on  your  side  of  the  water. 
You  will,  I  am  very  certain,  be  pleased  to  see  the  gray-eyed  little 
boy  (as  you  always  called  him,  though  his  eyes  were  very  black) 
that  you  left  upon  the  entry-floor,  at  New  Boston.  See  how  times 
have  turned  them  !  I  may  not  write,  and  need  not  say  more  to 
one  [on  whose  friendship  I  have  so  firm  a  reliance."  Here  the 
old  patriarch  leaves  off. 

"  To  Mr.  Copley,  in  the  solar  system." 

His  intention  was  first  to  go  to  France;  and  Dr.  Byles  desired  him 
immediately  to  call  on  Dr.  Franklin,  with  whom  he  was  well  ac 
quainted.  In  a  letter,  dated  Paris,  23,  1781,  he  writes  : 

"  Dr.  Franklin  has  given  me  a  pass,  and  recommendatory  let 
ters  to  the  famous  Mr.  West.  He  treats  me  with  the  utmost  po 
liteness  ;  has  given  me  an  invitation  to  his  house,  and  shown  me 
many  new  electrical  machines  and  experiments ;  one  of  which, 


496  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

contrived  for  perpetual  motion,  greatly  pleased  me.  I  delivered 
him  my  grandfather's  message ;  he  expressed  himself  with  the 
greatest  esteem  and  affection  for  him,  and  has  since  introduced  me 
at  Versailles,  as  being  grandson  to  one  of  his  most  particular  friends 
in  America." 

In  his  first  letter  from  London,  1781,  he  writes  : 

"  In  consequence  of  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Franklin,  at 
Paris,  who  gave  me  letters  to  his  fellow-townsman,  the  famous  Mr. 
West,  of  Philadelphia,  I  practise  gratis  with  this  gentleman,  who 
affords  me  every  encouragement,  as  well  as  Mr.  Copley,  who  is 
particularly  kind  to  me,  welcomed  me  to  his  house  and  lent  me  his 
pictures,  etc.  At  my  arrival,  Mr.  Treasurer  Gray  carried  me  and 
introduced  me  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  who  promised  me  his 
protection  during  my  stay." 

In  a  letter,  1783,  he  thus  wrote  :  "  I  have  exhibited  four  pic 
tures  in  the  exhibition  ;  the  king  and  queen  were  yesterday  there." 
In  1784 :  "  I  have  painted  several  Americans.  Yesterday  I  had 
two  pictures  shown  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  of  Wales ; 
they  were  carried  to  his  palace  by  his  page.  He  criticised  them, 
and  thought  them  strong  likenesses.  I  believe  I  never  told  you 
that  the  king  knew  a  picture  of  mine,  in  the  last  exhibition,  of  the 
keeper  of  Windsor  Castle,  and  took  particular  notice  of  Mr.  Gray's 
picture;  asked  who  it  was,  and  who  did  it,  and  what  book  he  had 
in  his  hand.  Mr.  West  told  him  it  was  the  treasurer  of  Boston 
painted  by  his  pupil,  a  young  man,  Mr.  Brown  of  America.  The 
king  asked  what  part.  He  told  him  Massachusetts." 

In  1785,  he  writes :  "  Among  other  great  people,  I  have  painted 
Sir  William  Pepperell  and  family,  and  the  Hon.  John  Adams, 
ambassador  to  his  Britannic  Majesty.  On  the  20th  of  June,  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  introduced  to  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  at 
his  palace  ;  his  grace  received  me  with  the  utmost  politeness." 

In  a  letter,  1786,  he  writes :  "  I  have  near  a  hundred  pictures 
of  my  countrymen  in  my  rooms,  which  are  universally  known ; 
Messrs.  Adams  and  Jefferson  on  one  side  of  the  room,  and  on  the 
other,  Treasurer  Gray  and  Sir  William  Pepperell." 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  this  intelligence  rejoiced  the 
h  earts  of  his  relatives  in  Boston.  Dr.  Byles  added  a  postscript  to 
one  of  his  daughter  Catharine's  letters,  in  these  words  :  "  You  will 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  497 

be  glad  to  see  your  grandfather's  hand — my  God,  bless  the  lad! — 
There  you  see  his  heart." 

ROBERT  TEMPLE. 

ROBERT  TEMPLE,  ESQ.,  of  Tenhills,  near  Boston,  was  an  elder 
brother  of  Sir  John  Temple,  baronet,  the  first  consul  general  from 
England  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Robert  Temple's  eldest  daugh 
ter  married  the  Hon.  Hans  Blackwood,  afterwards  Lord  Duffrin ; 
the  second  Temple  Emmet,  Esq.,  and  youngest  died  single.  Mr. 
Temple  died  in  England  before  1783,  and  his  death  is  noticed  in  the 
"  list  of  exiles  who  died  during  the  Revolution,"  published  in  the 
American  Quarterly  Review,  1841. 

SAMUEL  H.  SPARHAWK. 

SAMUEL  HIRST  SPARHAWK,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1771, 
an  addresser  of  Gov.  Gage,  and  a  refugee  to  England  with  his 
brothers  Nathaniel  and  William,  was  the  third  son  of  Col.  Nathan 
iel  Sparhawk  of  Kittery,  who  married  the  only  child  of  Sir  Wil 
liam  Pepperell,  baronet,  the  hero  of  Louisburg  in  1745.  Mr. 
Sparhawk's  brother  William  became  heir  to  the  estate  and  honors 
of  his  grandfather,  having  been  created  a  baronet  in  1774.  The 
former  died  in  Kittery,  August  29,  1789,  aged  38. 

STEPHEN  GREENLEAF. 

STEPHEN  GREENLEAF,  of  Boston,  an  addresser  of  Gov.  Hutchin- 
son,  May,  1774,  and  of  Gov.  Gage,  in  October,  1775.  Was  sheriff 
of  Suffolk  county.  He  died  Jan.  26,  1795. 

COUNT  RUMFORD. 

SIR  BENJAMIN  THOMPSON  (Count  Rumford)  was  born  in  Woburn, 
Massachusetts,  in  1752,  and  while  a  clerk  in  the  employment  of 
Mr.  John  Appleton,  merchant  of  Salem,  first  displayed  his  fondness 
for  experimental  philosophy,  (when  accidentally  his  face  was 
somewhat  marked  by  a  pyrotechnical  explosion,)  in  which  he  was 
afterwards  a  proficient  under  the  professor  cf  natural  philosophy  at 
Cambridge,  and  became  a  teacher.  He  made  an  advantageous 
marriage,  and  became  a  major  of  militia;  was  instrumental  in 
preserving  the  library  and  philosophical  apparatus  when  the  col 
leges  were  converted  into  barracks ;  as  a  loyalist  he  rendered  irn- 

63 


498  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

portant  services  to  the  British  generals,  and  was  received  by  Lord 
George  Germaine  as  under  secretary  in  the  office  for  colonial  af 
fairs.  Towards  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  sent  to  New- York, 
and  raised  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  of  which  he  was  the  colonel. 
He  commanded  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  in  1782-3,  where  he 
caused  a  fort  to  be  erected  in  the  church-yard,  contrary  to  the  wishes 
of  the  inhabitants.  He  returned  to  England  in  1784,  and  received 
the  honors  of  knighthood  and  became  under-secretary  of  state. 
Subsequently, recommended  by  the  prince  of  Deux  Fonts  (afterwards 
king  of  Bavaria),  he  entered  the  service  of  the  reigning  elector  pala 
tine  and  duke  of  Bavaria,  where  he  effected  many  useful  reforms, 
civil  and  military ;  among  them  a  scheme  for  the  suppression  of 
mendicity,  which  he  carried  into  execution  at  Munich  and  other 
places,  providing  labor  for  able-bodied  paupers,  and  exciting  a 
spirit  of  industry  among  the  poorer  classes  of  people,  for  \vhich  he 
was  rewarded  by  the  sovereign  of  Bavaria  with  the  commission  of 
a  lieut.  general,  several  orders  of  knighthood,  and  created  Count 
Rumford.  He  returned  to  England  in  1799,  and  employed  him 
self  in  making  experiments  on  the  nature  and  application  of  heat 
and  other  subjects  of  economical  and  philosophical  research.  He 
suggested  the  plan  and  assisted  in  the  foundation  of  the  Royal  In 
stitution.  In  1802  he  removed  to  Paris,  and  his  wife  being  dead, 
he  married  the  widow  of  the  celebrated  Lavoisier.  He  purchased 
a  country  house  at  Auteuil,  about  four  miles  from  Paris,  and  em 
bellished  the  grounds.  He  died  there  in  August,  1814,  leaving 
only  a  daughter,  the  offspring  of  his  first  marriage  in  the  United 
States.  Besides  a  great  number  of  communications  in  scientific 
journals,  he  published  four  volumes  of  essays,  political,  eco 
nomical,  experimental,  and  philosophical.  In  1796  he  remitted 
five  thousand  dollars  in  three  per  cent,  stocks,  to  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  the  income  to  be  appropriated  as  a 
premium  to  the  author  of  the  most  important  discovery  on  light 
and  heat.  By  his  last  will  he  laid  the  foundation  of  that  professor 
ship  to  Harvard  University,  which  has  rendered  his  name  justly 
esteemed  with  its  friends.  His  useful  and  eventful  life  has  been  the 
subject  of  faithful  history.  He  bequeathed  an  annuity  of  one  thou 
sand  dollars,  and  the  reversion  of  another  of  four  hundred  dollars, 
also  the  reversion  of  his  whole  estate,  which  amounted  to  upwards 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  499 

of  twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  "for  the  purpose  of  founding 
a  new  institution  and  professorship,  in  order  to  teach  by  regular 
courses  of  academical  and  public  lectures,  accompanied  with 
proper  experiments,  the  utility  of  the  physical  and  mathematical 
sciences  for  the  improvement  of  the  useful  arts,  and  for  the  ex 
tension  of  the  industry,  prosperity,  happiness  and  well-being  of 
society." 

THOMAS  HUTCHINSON,  JUN. 

THOMAS  HUTCHINSON,  Esq.,  eldest  son  of  Gov.  Hutchinson,  a 
merchant  of  Boston,  and,  with  his  brother  Elisha,  a  consignee  of  a 
third  of  the  East  India  Company's  tea  which  was  destroyed.  He 
was  a  refugee,  and  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1778.  He  had  been 
denounced  in  1769,  as  a  foreign  importer,  contrary  to  the  agree 
ment  of  the  Boston  merchants.  He  had  been  a  judge  of  the  com 
mon  pleas  for  Suffolk,  from  1772  to  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution.  He  died  at  Heavitree,  near  Exeter,  England,  in 
1811,  aged  81. 

WILLIAM  CLARK. 

REV.  WILLIAM  CLARK,  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Clark,  of  Salem  vil 
lage  (Danvers,)  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1759;  was  the 
Episcopal  minister  of  Quincy,  from  1768  to  1777,  when,  in  conse 
quence  of  aiding  two  distressed  loyalists  to  an  asylum,  he  was 
prosecuted  as  unpatriotic.  Being  forcibly  taken  before  the  revolu 
tionary  tribunal  at  Boston,  and  refusing  to  swear  allegiance  to  the 
commonwealth,  he  was  condemned  to  be  transported  to  foreign 
parts,  and  was  immediately  confined  to  a  prison  ship  in  the  harbor. 
By  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Ames,  a  zealous  whig,  in  his  behalf,  he  was 
liberated,  after  losing  his  health  and  speech.  He  went  to  Eng 
land,  obtained  a  pension,  and  died  Nov.  4,  1815. 

FRANCIS  GREENE. 

FRANCIS  GREENE,  Esq.  of  Boston,  a  merchant  •  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  1760  ;  a  refugee,  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1777  ; 
married  a  widow  lady,  by  which  he  became  step-father  to  two 
deaf  and  dumb  children,  and  his  interest  in  them  made  him  an  au 
thor  ;  ("  Essay  on  imparting  Speech  to  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,"  Lon 
don,  1783.)  Some  changes  in  the  funds  reduced  his  property,  and 


500  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

in  his  last  days  he  was  dependent  on  his  half  pay  as  a  British  officer,, 
having  been  at  the  capture  of  Havana  in  1762.  He  died  at  his 
residence,  Medford,  April  21,  1809,  aged  67. 

For  the  share  he  had  in  the  farewell  address  to  Gov.  Hutchin- 
son,  he  was  beset  when  travelling  in  July,  1774,  through  Norwich 
and  Windham,  Connecticut. 

COL.  BORLAND. 

JOHN  LINDALL  BORLAND,  eldest  son  of  John  Borland,  of  Cam 
bridge,  took  to  the  profession  of  arms,  after  having  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  1772;  and  at  his  death  in  England,  Nov.  16, 
1825,  he  is  styled  a  lieut.  colonel  of  his  majesty's  forces.  Dr. 
Francis  Borland,  second  son  of  J.  Borland,  Esq.,  of  Cambridge, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1774,  was  a  physician  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  a  few  years ;  died  at  Somerset,  Bristol  Co.,  Mass.,  1826. 

COL.  BROWNE. 

HON.  WILLIAM  BROWNE,  governor  of  Bermuda,  son  of  Samuel 
Browne,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  and  a  grandson  of  Gov.  Burnet,  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1755.  He  was  colonel  of  the  Essex  regi 
ment,  and  succeeded  Judge  Ropes  on  the  bench  of  the  supreme 
court  in  1774,  for  a  short  time.  The  provincial  assembly  urging 
their  title  to  nominate  to  judicial  and  civil  trusts,  he  was  requested 
to  resign  that  office,  held  under  the  royal  seal,  as  also  the  honor  of 
mandamus  counsellor,  to  which  he  had  been  called  by  a  county 
committee,  which  he  contrived  to  evade.  He  was  one  of  the  sev 
enteen  "  rescinders"  in  1768.  In  the  several  capacities  of  represent 
ative,  colonel,  counsellor  and  judge,  he  rendered  himself  obnoxious 
by  adhering  to  government ;  which  was  thus  incidentally  noticed 
in  a  newspaper,  when  he  found  it  expedient  to  take  refuge  in  Bos 
ton  in  the  autumn  of  1774  : 

"  Agreeable  to  the  advice  of  the  respectable  provincial  con 
gress,  the  training  band  company  of  Lynn,  being  part  of  the  first 
regiment  in  the  county  of  Essex,  formerly  commanded  by  William 
Browne,  Esq.,  (politically  deceased  of  a  pestilent  and  mortal  disor 
der,  and  now  buried  in  the  ignominious  ruins  of  Boston,)  met  on 
Monday,  the  15th  inst.,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing,  etc.  etc." 

Col.  Browne  was  esteemed  among  the  most  opulent  and  benevo- 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  501 

lent  individuals  of  that  province  prior  to  the  Revolution  ;  and  so 
great  was  his  popularity,  that  the  gubernatorial  chair  was  offered 
him  by  the  "  Committee  of  Safety"  as  an  inducement  for  him  to 
remain  and  join  the  "  sons  of  liberty ."  But  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  ad 
here  to  government,  even  at  the  expense  of  his  great  landed 
estate,  both  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  the  latter  compri 
sing  fourteen  valuable  farms,  all  which  were  after  wards  confiscated* 
He  went  to  England  via  Halifax,  in  April,  1776,  arid  was  gov 
ernor  of  Bermuda  from  1781  to  1790,  when  he  returned  to  Eng 
land,  where  he  died  in  Percy-street,  Westminster,  Feb.  13,  1802, 
aged  65.  Col.  Browne  married  his  cousin,  a  daughter  of  Gov. 
Wanton,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  was  doubly  connected  with  the 
Wlnthrop  family ;  the  wives  of  the  elder  Browne  and  Gov.  Wanton 
being  daughters  of  John  Winthrop,  F.  R.  S.  great-grandson  of  the 
first  governor  of  Massachusetts,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1700.  Col.  Browne's  son  William  was  an  officer  in  the  British 
service  at  the  siege  of  Gibraltar  in  1784. 

JUDGE  SMITH. 

HON.  WILLIAM  SMITH,  chief  justice  of  the  province  of  New- 
York,  (his  father  of  the  same  name,  was  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
judge  of  New-York  supreme  court,  died  22d  Nov.  1769,  aged  73,) 
was  graduated  at  Yale  College,  1745 ;  was  a  loyalist  in  the  Rev 
olution,  and  subsequently  became  chief  justice  of  Canada.  In 
1757,  he  published  a  history  of  the  province  of  New-York  to  1732, 
to  which  the  New-York  Historical  Society  published  a  posthumous 
continuation  to  1762.  Governeur  Morris  studied  law  with  him,  as 
did  also  many  other  distinguished  men. 

GOV.  WENTWORTH. 

SIR  JOHN  WENTWORTH,  Baronet,  governor  of  New  Hampshire, 
was  born  in  1736 ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1755 ;  was  a 
son  of  Mark  Hunking  Wentworth,  and  nephew  of  Benning  Went- 
worth,  who  was  his  immediate  predecessor  in  the  gubernatorial 
chair.  He  was  appointed  to  that  office  in  1767,  and  filled  it  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  parties,  till  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tion  in  1775,  when,  being  a  loyalist,  he  took  refuge  on  board  a 
man-of-war  in  July,  for  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  appointed  lieut. 


502  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES. 

governor  in  1792.  Soon  after  he  went  to  England  and  was  cre 
ated  a  baronet,  and  was  succeeded  by  Prevost  of  New  Brunswick 
in  1808.  He  possessed  a  sound  judgment,  liberal  views,  and  a 
highly  cultivated  taste.  He  was  the  friend  of  learning  and  learned 
men.  Dartmouth  College  was  established  during  his  administra 
tion,  and  flourished  under  his  patronage.  He  always  endeavored 
to  promote  the  interest  of  the  province,  and  through  his  influence 
its  settlements  rapidly  increased.  He  exerted  himself  to  preserve 
the  union  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain,  but  was  obliged 
to  yield  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  submit  to  a  separation.  He 
greatly  promoted  agricultural  improvements.  He  erected  a  splen 
did  mansion  on  his  farm  at  Wolfsborough,  on  the  border  of  Lake 
Winnipiseogee.  He  died  at  Halifax,  April  8,  1820,  aged  83.  He 
married  the  widow  of  Theodore  Atkinson,  jr.,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Frances  Peering,  in  1769.  Portraits  of  Sir  John  and  Lady 
Frances  are  preserved  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 

JUDGE  1NGERSOLL. 

HON.  JARED  INGERSOLL,  a  judge  of  admiralty,  was  born  in  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut,  in  1722,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1742; 
settled  as  a  lawyer  in  New  Haven,  and  in  1757  was  agent  for  the 
colony  in  England.  He  was  appointed  a  distributor  of  stamps  for 
Connecticut  under  the  famous  stamp  act,  and  thereby  lost  his  pop 
ularity;  the  people  compelled  him  to  resign,  August  24,  1765, 
which  was  soon  after  his  return  from  England,  but  not  deeming  his 
resignation  sufficiently  explicit,  a  large  number  from  the  eastern 
part  of  Connecticut  set  off  for  New  Haven,  and  meeting  Mr.  Inger- 
sol  at  Weathersfield,  compelled  him  to  renounce  the  office  and  cry 
out  "Liberty  and  property"  The  next  day  five  hundred  men 
escorted  him  to  Hartford. 

On  being  appointed  admiralty  judge  for  the  middle  district, 
about  the  year  1770,  he  removed  to  Philadelphia.  In  consequence 
of  the  Revolution  he  returned  to  New  Haven,  and  died  in  August, 
1781,  in  his  60th  year. 

ELISHA  HUTCHINSON. 

ELISHA  HUTCHINSON,  ESQ.,  second  son  of  Gov.  Hutchinson, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  1762.  He  was  in  company  with 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  503 

his  eldest  brother  Thomas  consignee  of  one  third  of  the  East  India 
Company's  tea,  destroyed  at  Boston  in  1773.  He  went  to  Eng 
land  a  refugee,  in  1775 ;  was  proscribed  in  the  banishment  act  of 
1778,  and  resided  in  England  till  his  death,  which  took  place  at 
the  house  of  his  son,  Rev.  John  Hutchinson,  Blurton  parsonage, 
Trentham,  Suffolk,  in  1824,  at  the  age  of  81. 

His  brother  William  Sanford  Hutchinson,  died  of  consumption 
in  England,  Feb.  20,  1780,  aged  28. 

WILLIAM  HUTCHINSON. 

WILLIAM  HUTCHINSON,  Esq.,  nephew  of  Gov.  Hutchinson,  grad 
uated  at  Harvard  College  in  1762 ;  was  a  refugee  in  1775 ;  and 
died  Feb.  6,  1791,  in  Europe,  aged  57.  He  was  a  king's  counsel 
lor  at  the  Bahamas. 

JOHN  S.  COPLEY. 

JOHN  SINGLETON  COPLEY,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  historical  painter, 
was  born  at  Boston.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Wins- 
low,  and  his  sister  the  wife  of  Col.  Henry  Bromfield,  who  resided 
in  London,  1775.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Richard  Clarke,  Esq., 
one  of  the  consignees  of  the  East  India  Company's  tea ;  and  being 
an  addresser  of  Gov.  Hutchinson,  was  early  a  refugee  loyalist. 
Mr.  Copley  visited  Italy  in  1774,  and  joined  his  wife  and  children 
in  England  in  1776.  He  resumed  his  profession  in  the  metropolis 
with  unsurpassed  success.  His  "  Death  of  Chatham,"  "  Defence 
of  Gibraltar,"  and  "  Charles  I.  in  the  House  of  Commons,"  placed 
him  among  the  first  artists  of  the  age.  He  died  in  the  full  exercise 
of  his  talent,  suddenly,  in  1815.  Many  of  his  superb  portraits 
adorn  the  mansions  and  galleries  of  Massachusetts.  His  only  sur 
viving  son,  Lord  Lyndhurst,  as  distinguished  in  the  legal  profession 
as  his  father  was  as  an  artist,  was  born  in  Boston  in  1772,  and 
graduated  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  distinguished 
himself,  winning  many  prizes.  In  1816  he  was  elected  to  parlia 
ment.  In  1819  became  solicitor-general;  in  1826,  on  the  death 
of  Lord  GirTord,  master  of  the  rolls,  and  in  1827  lord  high  chan 
cellor  of  England,  which  honorable  post  he  at  present  holds  for 
the  third  time ;  all  of  which  offices  he  has  filled  with  distinguished 


504  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

ability.  He  was  raised  to  the  peerage  in  1827,  and  his  armorial 
motto,  "  ultra  pergere"  may  well  apply  to  his  former  career.  A 
sisfer  of  Lord  Lyndhurst  married  Gardner  Greene,  Esq.  of  Bos 
ton. 

REV.  S.  A.  PETERS. 

SAMUEL  A.  PETERS,  D.  D.,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  of  Hebron, 
Connecticut,  where  he  was  born,  December  12, 1735.  He  gradu 
ated  at  Yale  College  1757.  In  consequence  of  loyal  principles  he 
was  dismissed  in  1774  from  his  charge  of  the  churches  at  Hebron 
and  Hartford,  and  went  a  refugee  to  England.  He  remained  abroad 
until  1805,  when  he  returned  to  New-York.  In  1817  and  1818, 
he  made  a  journey  to  the  west  as  far  as  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
claiming  a  large  territory  under  an  Indian  grant  to  Capt.  Jonathan 
Carver.  He  is  the  reputed  author  of  a  History  of  Connecticut,  pub 
lished  at  London,  in  1781.  It  is  of  a  similar  stamp  with  Knicker 
bocker's  History  of  New-York,  and  does  but  little  credit  to  its 
author.  Dr.  Peters  would  never  acknowledge  the  paternity  of  this 
work,  but  the  fact  is  now  well  established.  He  died  at  New-York, 
April  19,  1826,  aged  ninety.  His  remains  were  entombed  at  He 
bron.  Dr.  Peters  was  chosen  bishop  of  Vermont,  while  in  Eng 
land,  but  did  not  accept  the  charge. 

He  left  one  daughter,  who  accompanied  him  in  exile,  and  mar 
ried  Mr.  Jarvis,  afterwards  secretary  of  the  province  of  Upper 
Canada;  she  is  now  living  at  Queenstown.  Dr.  Peters  also  left  a 
son,  who  died  of  yellow  fever  at  New  Orleans,  where  the  eldest 
son  of  the  latter  now  resides. 

TIMOTHY  ORNE. 

TIMOTHY  ORNE,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1768 ;  became  a  merchant,  and  married  a  daughter  of  William 
Pynchon,  Esq.  He  died  before  1791. 

MAJOR  HAWLEY. 

JOSEPH  HAWLEY,  of  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  was  born  in 
1724,  was  graduated  at  Yale  College,  and  possessed  strong  natural 
powers,  improved  by  the  study  and  practice  of  the  law.  He  early 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  505 

embarked  in  political  life,  and  retired  from  the  assembly  in  1776, 
with  an  influence  seldom  equalled,  obtained  not  less  by  his  great 
talents  than  his  unsullied  and  unimpeachable  integrity.  His  opin 
ions  were  followed  almost  implicitly,  and  the  leaders  in  the  assem 
bly  despaired  of  carrying  any  measure  to  which  he  was  opposed. 
At  a  time  when  the  distresses  of  the  war  had  produced  disaffection, 
and  a  faction  was  organized  in  the  western  part  of  Massachusetts, 
in  almost  open  resistance  to  the  constituted  authorities,  he  in 
duced  nearly  all  to  sign  a  humble  petition  to  government,  praying 
for  an  act  of  indemnity  for  the  past,  and  promising  future  obe 
dience. 

Major  Hawley  declined  all  honors  and  employment  when  his 
popularity  was  at  the  highest,  and  thus  formed  an  example  of  those 
public  spirited,  generous  citizens,  (ready  to  share  the  peril  and  de 
cline  the  reward,)  who  illustrate  the  idea  of  a  commonwealth,  and 
who,  through  the  obstruction  of  human  passions  and  infirmities, 
being  of  rare  occurrence,  will  always  be  the  most  admired  and  no 
ble  ornaments  of  a  free  government. 

He  was  certainly  a  great  man,  and  a  thoroughly  upright  one; 
a  disinterested  patriot  whose  feelings  and  convictions  were  in  be 
half  of  freedom.  He  closed  his  earthly  career  at  Northampton, 
in  1788,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four. 


R.  CLARK. 

RICHARD  CLARK,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1729,  became  an  eminent  merchant,  and,  with  his  sons,  wras  con 
signee  of  a  third  of  the  East  India  Company's  tea  destroyed  in 
Boston  in  1773,  on  which  account  his  house  in  School-street  was 
assaulted.  Went  to  London,  where  he  arrived  December  24, 1775. 
Was  proscribed  in  the  banishment  act  of  the  assembly  of  Massa 
chusetts,  October,  1778.  He  was  one  of  the  addressers  of  Gov. 
Gage  on  his  departure  from  Massachusetts.  He  resided  in  London 
till  his  death,  at  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  John  Singleton  Copley, 
February  27,  1795.  Mr.  Clark  was  a  pall-bearer  at  Gov.  Hutch- 
inson's  funeral  in  1780.  Jonathan,  his  son  and  partner,  who 
accompanied  his  father,  returned  to  America  after  the  peace,  and 
resided  in  Canada. 

64 


506  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

T.  FLUCKER. 

THOMAS  FLUCKER,  Esq.,  secretary  of  Massachusetts  1771,  on 
the  promotion  of  Mr.  Oliver  to  be  lieutenant  governor;  was  a 
refugee,  and  passed  his  remaining  days  in  London,  where  he  died, 
February  16,  1783.  His  son  Thomas  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  1773,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  60th  British  regiment.  His 
daughter  was  the  wife  of  Maj.  Gen.  Henry  Knox,  of  the  revolu 
tionary  army,  and  afterwards  secretary  at  war. 

S.   SEWALL. 

SAMUEL  SEWALL,  Esq.,  the  friend  of  Attorney  General  Jonathan 
Sewall,  in  exile,  was  a  great-grandson  of  Ch.  Justice  Samuel  Sewall, 
and  grandson  of  Samuel  Sewall,  Esq.,  of  Brookline,  who  married 
Rebecca  Dudley,  a  daughter  of  the  governor.  His  father  was 
Henry  Sewall,  Esq.,  of  Brookline;  a  gentleman  much  respected,  who 
died  there  in  1771,  aged  fifty-two  years.  This  son  Samuel,  bom 
December  31,  1745,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1761,  lived 
unmarried  a  counsellor  at  law  in  Boston  ;  was  an  "  addresser"  of 
Gov.  Hutchinson  and  Gov.  Gage ;  left  for  England  in  1775,  was 
proscribed  in  the  banishment  act  of  September,  1778  ;  passed  the  re 
mainder  of  his  life  in  England,  and  died  at  Bristol,  May  6,  1811, 
aged  sixty-six  years.  His  large  estate  in  Brookline,  inherited  in 
right  of  his  mother,  was  forfeited. 

HARRISON  GRAY. 

HARRISON  GRAY,  Esq.,  receiver-general  of  Massachusetts,  was 
born  at  Boston,  and  bred  a  merchant.  His  patrimonial  inher 
itance,  aided  by  industry,  enabled  him  to  acquire  a  handsome  for 
tune.  In  June,  1753,  he  was  chosen  treasurer  of  the  province  by 
the  general  court,  and  continued  in  that  office  till  October,  1774. 
He  adhered  to  government  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy, 
but  the  moderation  of  his  conduct,  his  superior  fitness  for  the  office, 
and  the  confidence  in  his  integrity,  secured  him  public  favor  through 
the  stormy  period  which  commenced  soon  after  his  first  election, 
and  continued  until  his  appointment  to  and  acceptance  of  the  office 
of  mandamus  counsellor  in  1774.  But  this  was  an  unpardonable 
offence  in  the  eyes  of  the  sons  of  liberty.  It  was,  however,  unsoli- 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  507 

cited,  unexpected,  and  accepted  with  great  reluctance,  being  stren 
uously  pressed  upon  him  by  the  leaders  of  the  loyalist  party ;  and 
as  most  of  those  who  had  been  appointed  his  colleagues,  living  in 
the  country,  were  compelled  by  popular  excitement  to  decline  the 
office,  he  was  led  to  believe  that  residing  in  Boston,  then  garrisoned 
by  an  army,  he  had  no  such  apology  for  shrinking  from  the  service, 
aad  accordingly  sacrificed  inclination  to  a  conscientious  sense  of 
duty.  In  October,  1774,  the  royal  government  being  ended  in  fact, 
the  provincial  congress  resolved,  "  that  no  more  taxes  be  paid  to 
him"  and  soon  after  made  choice  of  Henry  Gardner  for  his  suc 
cessor.  This  authority  he  could  not  be  expected  to  recognise ;  he 
therefore  retained  the  books  and  files  at  his  office,  till  the  evacuation 
by  the  British  troops,  and  then  left  them  in  exemplary  order  ;  they 
are  still  in  the  public  archives  of  Massachusetts,  and  show  the  mo 
del  of  a  faithful  state  treasurer.  He  might  perhaps  have  been  jus 
tified  in  retaining  a  lien  upon  these  as  a  security  against  loss  and 
damage  to  a  very  valuable  real  and  personal  estate  which  he  left, 
and  which  was  soon  after  confiscated  ;  but  his  high  sense  of  official 
duty  forbade  his  recourse  to  any  such  precaution,  and  he  withdrew 
from  a  country  which  he  loved  not  less  than  did  those  who  stayed 
at  home,  taking  nothing  which  belonged  to  the  public ;  but  being 
himself  a  creditor  to  many  of  the  principal  persons  among  the  sons 
of  liberty,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  John  Hancock,  who  owed  him 
a  large  sum  for  borrowed  money,  no  part  of  which  would  he  pay 
in  his  lifetime,  and  of  which  a  small  part  only  was  received  from 
his  executors.  When  the  British  fleet  retired  from  Boston,  Mr. 
Gray,  urged  by  a  sense  of  duty,  with  the  male  members  of  his 
family  tore  himself  away  from  his  adored  and  only  daughter,  Mrs. 
S.  A.  Otis,  and  went  to  England,  where  he  lived  to  a  great  age 
upon  a  small  pension  from  the  British  government. 

Perhaps  no  man  among  the  many  excellent  persons  who  went 
into  exile  at  that  time,  was  more  beloved  and  regretted  by  his  po 
litical  enemies ;  for  a  more  genuine  model  of  nature's  nobleman 
never  lived. 

J.  FISHER. 

JOHN  FISHER,  Esq,,  collector  of  Salem  in  1768,  a  brother-in-law 
of  Gov.  Wentworth,  of  New  Hampshire ;  a  refugee,  he  was  employed 


508  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

as  secretary  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  the  American  secretary,  on 
the  departure  of  Mr.  Thompson  (Count  Rumford)  to  America,  in 
which  office  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Adam  Woolridge  in  1781. 

E.  OXNARD. 

EDWARD  OXNARD,  Esq.,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1767 ; 
afterwards  a  merchant  at  Falmouth,  (Portland,)  Maine,  and  a  tem 
porary  reader  .at  the  Episcopal  church  at  that  place,  from  the  de 
parture  of  Mr.  Wiswall  in  May,  1775,  to  the  burning  of  the  town. 
He  was  a  refugee  during  the  contest ;  was  proscribed  in  the  ban 
ishment  act  in  1778,  and  returned  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
and  again  embarked  in  commercial  pursuits.  He  died  July  2,  1803. 

JUDGE  BLISS. 

HON.  JONATHAN  BLISS  was  born  at  Springfield,  which  he  repre 
sented  in  the  assembly  of  Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1763,  and  attended  Lord  Percy  to  Concord  on  the  19th 
April,  1775;  was  a  proscribed  refugee  by  the  banishment  act  of 
1778  ;  he  had  been  one  of  the  "  rescinders"  in  Gov.  Bernard's  ad 
ministration.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Worthington, 
of  Springfield,  a  loyalist;  another  daughter  married  the  Hon. 
Fisher  Ames.  He  became  chief  justice  of  New  Brunswick,  his  as 
sociates,  being  Ward  Chipman,  and  Edward  Winslow,  refugees, 
and  sons  of  Harvard.  He  died  at  Fredericton,  N.  B.,  1822,  aged 
eighty  years. 

GENERAL  RUGGLES. 

TIMOTHY  RUGGLES,  born  in  Rochester,  Massachusetts,  Oct.  1711, 
eldest  son  of  Rev.  Timothy  Ruggles,  of  that  place,  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  1732,  and  soon  after  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law.  He  represented  his  native  town  in  the  provincial  assembly 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and  procured  the  passage  of  an  act  still 
in  force,  prohibiting  sheriffs  from  filling  writs.  He  practised  some 
years  in  Rochester,  when  he  removed  to  Sandwich.  His  reputation 
was  so  great  that  he  was  early  and  frequently  employed  in  the  ad 
joining  counties  of  Barnstable  and  Bristol,  and  was  the  principal 
antagonist  of  Col.  Otis  in  causes  of  importance.  He  occasionally 
attended  the  courts  in  Worcester  early  in  his  professional  career. 
He  removed  to  Hardwick  as  early  as  1763.  In  1757  he  was  ap- 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  509 

pointed  judge,  and  in  1762  chief  justice  of  the  common  pleas,  which 
he  held  till  the  Revolution.  He  was  also  surveyor-general  of  the 
king's  forests,  an  office  of  profit,  attended  with  but  little  labor. 
Besides  professional  employment,  he  was  engaged  in  military  and 
political  occupations.  In  1756,  he  was  a  colonel  in  the  army  un 
der  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  the  expedition  against  Crown  Point. 
In  September  of  the  same  year,  he  was  next  in  command  to  John 
son  at  the  battle  of  Lake  Geerge,  where  the  French  army,  under 
Baron  Dieskau,  met  a  signal  defeat.  He  was  actively  engaged  in 
the  campaigns  of  1756-'57,  and  in  the  following  year,  with  the 
commission  of  brigadier-general,  was  under  Lord  Amherst,  and 
served  with  him  in  his  expedition  against  Canada  in  1759-'60. 

Gen.  Ruggles  was  speaker  of  the  provincial  assembly  in 
1762-'63.  In  consequence  of  the  grievous  exaction  of  the  British 
government,  delegates  were  chosen  by  the  legislature  to  meet  the 
delegates  from  the  other  colonies  at  New-York,  to  seek  out  some 
public  relief  from  immediate  and  threatened  evils,  by  a  representa 
tion  of  their  sufferings  to  the  king  and  parliament.  Gen.  Ruggles 
was  chosen  as  one  of  the  delegates  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts, 
and  was  president  of  that  celebrated  congress  of  distinguished  men 
from  nine  of  the  colonies.  At  this  meeting,  October  19,  1765,  an 
address  to  the  king  was  voted,  and  certain  resolves  framed,  setting 
forth  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  and  claiming  an  entire  exemption 
from  all  taxes,  excepting  those  imposed  by  the  local  assemblies. 
Gen.  Ruggles  refused  his  concurrence  in  the  proceedings,  for  which 
he  was  censured  by  the  house  of  representatives,  and  was  repri 
manded  by  the  speaker  in  his  place.  Hutchinson  says,  when  he 
consented  to  be  a  delegate,  he  expected  nothing  more  would  be 
required  of  him  than  was  expressed  in  the  vote  of  the  assembly, 
and  left  the  house  in  order  to  prepare  for  his  journey ;  that  after 
wards,  on  learning  that  the  house  had  voted  to  instruct  the  dele 
gates  to  insist  upon  the  exclusive  right  of  the  colonies  to  tax 
themselves,  he  determined  not  to  serve,  but  was  finally  prevailed 
with  by  his  friends.  In  1774,  he  was  made  mandamus  counsellor, 
accepted  and  was  qualified.  Continuing  firm  in  his  adherence  to 
the  loyalist  party,  with  whom  were  all  his  predilections,  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  country,  and  all  his  large  estates  were  con 
fiscated.  He  remained  in  Boston  during  the  siege;  afterwards 


510  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

spent  a  few  months  on  Long  Island,  and  then  went  to  Nova  Scotia, 
where  he  died  in  1798,  aged  87.  Few  in  the  province  were  more 
distinguished,  and  few  more  severely  dealt  with  in  the  bitter  con 
troversies  preceding  the  Revolution  ;  as  a  military  officer  he  was 
distinguished  for  cool  bravery  and  excellent  judgment  and  science 
in  the  art  of  war,  and  no  provincial  officer  was  held  in  higher 
esteem  for  those  qualities.  His  appearance  was  commanding  and 
dignified,  being  much  above  the  common  size  ;  his  wit  ready  and 
brilliant ;  his  mind  clear,  comprehensive  and  penetrating ;  his 
judgment  was  profound,  and  his  knowledge  extensive.  His  abili 
ties  as  a  public  speaker  placed  him  among  the  first  of  his  day  ;  and 
had  he  been  so  fortunate  as  to  embrace  the  popular  sentiments  of 
the  times,  there  is  no  doubt  he  would  have  been  ranked  among 
the  leading  characters  of  the  Revolution. 

D.  OLIVER. 

DANIEL  OLIVER,  Esq.,  son  of  Chief  Justice  Peter  Oliver,  a 
learned  and  accomplished  lawyer  of  Worcester  county,  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1762.  A  refugee  loyalist  of  the  Revolution, 
he  died  at  Ashted,  Warwickshire,  May  6,  1826,  aged  82.  His 
father  was  an  antiquarian,  and  copied  with  his  own  hand  Hub- 
bard's  manuscript  History  of  New  England,  which  the  son  refused 
the  loan  of  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  for  publication 
in  their  Collections. 

MAJOR  BRATTLE. 

THOMAS  BRATTLE,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1760 ;  an 
absentee,  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1778 ;  long  after  his  return  from 
England,  he  remained  at  Newport, R.  L,his  fate  being  in  suspense. 
He  finally  recovered  his  confiscated  house  and  grounds  at  Cam 
bridge  ;  he  died  Feb.  7,  1801,  aged  59. 

SAMUEL  PORTER. 

SAMUEL  PORTER,  Esq.,  an  eminent  attorney  at  law,  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1763 ;  an  ad 
dresser  of  Gov.  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  a  refugee  to  England  ;  was 
proscribed  in  the  banishment  act  of  1778,  and  died  in  London, 
June,  1798. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  511 

DR.  AUCHMUTY. 

REV.  SAMUEL  AUCHMUTY,  D.  D.,  brother  of  Robert  Auchmuty, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1742  ;  was 
rector  of  Trinity  church,  New-York.  The  degree  of  D.  D.  was  con 
ferred  on  him  by  Oxford  University  ;  he  died  March  3,  1777.  His 
son,  Sir  Samuel  Auchmuty,  G.  C.  B.,  a  lieut.  general  in  the  British 
army,  died  in  1822. 

JUDGE  AUCHMUTY. 

HON.  ROBERT  AUCHMUTY,  of  Boston,  judge  of  the  admiralty  court 
in  1768  ;  was  a  brother  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Auchmuty,  rector  of 
Trinity  church,  New- York,  who  died  in  1777.  Their  father  was  also 
a  judge  of  the  admiralty  court.  The  son  appeared  once  after  his 
appointment,  says  Eliot,  in  defence  of  Captain  Preston  and  his 
soldiers,  and  his  argument  was  described  as  so  memorable  and  per 
suasive,  "  as  almost  to  bear  down  the  tide  of  prejudice  against  him, 
though  it  never  swelled  to  a  higher  flood."  He  was  a  zealous 
loyalist,  and  died  in  England ;  he  wrote  some  of  the  obnoxious 
letters  to  Mr.  Whately,  surreptitiously  obtained  with  those  of  the 
governor  and  others. 

REV.  J.  TROUTBECK. 

JOHN  TROUTBECK  was  assistant  minister  at  King's  chapel,  Bos 
ton  j  a  refugee,  he  died  in  exile  some  time  before  November,  1783. 

DR.  OLIVER. 

PETER  OLIVER,  of  Salem,  third  son  of  Lieut.  Governor  Andrew 
Oliver,  a  refugee,  was  driven  into  Boston  in  1775  ;  signed  the  ad 
dress  to  Gov.  Gage ;  died  in  London,  April  4,  1795 ;  surgeon  in 
the  British  army.  His  widow,  (daughter  of  Col.  Peter  Frye),  was 
afterwards  married  to  Admiral  Sir  John  Knight,  and  died  at  her 
seat  at  Camberwell  near  London. 

REV.  J.  WISWALL. 

JOHN  WISWALL,  son  of  the  grammar  school  master  of  Boston 
of  the  same  name,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1749,  and  was 
the  first  minister  of  the  first  Episcopal  church  at  Portland,  Maine, 
in  1764.  When  Capt.  Mowatt's  little  squadron  lay  in  the  harbor, 
April,  1775,  to  which  the  town  (then  called  Falmouth)  shortly 


512  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

after  owed  its  destruction,  Mr.  Wiswall's  intimacy  as  well  as  that 
of  some  other  citizens  with  its  officers,  procured  his  arrest  and  close 
examination  by  the  committee  of  safety.  In  May  he  left  his  people 
and  the  place,  and  never  returned.  He  was  proscribed  in  the 
banishment  act  of  1778.  Mr.  Wiswall  was  a  curate  at  Oxford, 
in  1781.  After  the  peace  he  came  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  was  in 
duced  at  their  urgent  request  to  take  charge  of  a  portion  of  his 
former  flock,  with  other  emigrants  from  the  United  States  gathered 
at  Cornwallis  in  that  province. 

COLONEL  PICKMAN. 

BENJAMIN  PICKMAN,  Esq.  was  born  at  Salem  in  1740 ;  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1759.  He  was  a  merchant  in  early  life,  a 
representative  of  the  provincial  assembly,  and  commandant  of  the 
first  regiment  of  Essex  county.  He  did  not  take  a  popular  view  of 
the  subject  of  revolution,  but  left  the  country  at  the  commencement 
of  it,  and  consequently  was  proscribed,  and  his  estate  included  in 
the  confiscation  act ;  but  after  his  return  from  England  a  portion 
of  it  was  recovered,  not  however  without  much  difficulty.  Col. 
Pickman  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Toppan  of  Boston,  and  died  at 
his  native  place  in  April,  1819,  aged  79.  He  was  a  son  of  the 
Col.  Pickman  who  died  at  Salem,  in  1773,  aged  66;  a  member  of 
the  provincial  council  and  judge  of  the  common  pleas,  whose 
sisters  married  Curwen,  Ward,  and  Ropes,  the  father  of  Judge 
Ropes,  and  whose  brother  Samuel  was  governor  of  Tortola. 
The  first  mentioned  Col.  Pickman  left  a  number  of  children.  The 
late  Dr.  Thomas  Pickman,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1791,  was  one,  whose  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Haraden,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  naval  commander  during  the  Revo 
lution,  on  the  side  of  America  ;  and  after  her  death,  Miss 
Palmer,  granddaughter  of  Hon.  Joseph  Palmer,  president  of  the 
Massachusetts  provincial  congress  of  1776.  William  Pickman, 
Esq.,  another  son,  resides  in  Salem;  and  Col.  Benjamin  Pickman, 
who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1784,  and  immediately  com 
menced  his  travels  by  the  way  of  England.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Elias  Hasket  Derby,  Esq. ;  was  extensively  and  suc 
cessfully  engaged  in  commerce ;  represented  Essex  south  district 
in  congress ;  and  for  several  years  the  county,  in  the  senate  of  the 
state.  His  philanthropy  was  unbounded,  and  Salem  has  sustained 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  5 13 

a  great  loss  by  his  removal  to  Boston,  to  reside  with  the  widow 
of  his  son  Col.  Benjamin  T.  Pickman,  late  president  of  the  senate  of 
Massachusetts ; — she  is  a  niece  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Smith,  so  often 
referred  to  in  the  body  of  this  work. 

It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that  of  four  successive  genera 
tions,  the  eldest  sons  bearing  the  same  name  have  been  colonels, 
and  three  of  them  in  command  of  the  same  regiment.  The  last 
mentioned  was  for  several  years  at  Exeter  academy,  and  com 
pleted  a  commercial  education  in  the  counting-house  of  Messrs.  P. 
and  H.  Le  Mesurier  and  Co.,  of  London,  preparatory  to  establish 
ing  himself  in  mercantile  business  at  Boston.  He  was  an  aid-de 
camp  of  Gov.  Brooks  ;  and  like  all  his  above-mentioned  ancestors, 
possessed  a  great  share  of  public  spirit,  and  a  dignity  and  elegance 
of  manner  rarely  attained  ;  his  many  virtues  array  themselves  be 
fore  the  writer  on  every  recollection  of  the  friend  of  his  youth. 

COL.  FRYE. 

PETER  FRYE,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  was  born  in  Andover,  and  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  College  in  1744.  He  was  a  judge  of  the  common 
pleas  and  register  of  probate  for  Essex  county,  and  colonel  of 
the  first  regiment.  He  was  for  several  successive  years  a  repre 
sentative  in  the  provincial  assembly,  and  was  one  of  the  seventeen 
noted  "  rescinders'  in  February,  1768  ;  a  term  of  reproach  applied 
to  the  minority,  whose  votes  sustained  Gov.  Bernard  in  his  demand 
that  an  obnoxious  vote  be  rescinded,  at  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough's 
request.  In  the  event  of  refusal  he  was  directed  to  dissolve  the 
assembly.  The  vote  repelling  the  demand  was  92  to  17,  Col. 
Frye  adhered  to  government,  and  was  a  refugee  in  1775.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Col.  Pickman,  of  Salem.  His  daughter 
Love  married  Dr.  Peter  Oliver,  and  afterwards  Admiral  Sir  John 
Knight,  K.  C.  B.,  and  died  at  her  seat  at  Camberwell,  near  Lon 
don,  in  1839.  Col.  Frye  died  also  at  the  residence  of  his  daugh 
ter,  on  the  1st  of  February,  1820,  aged  97.  He  was  included 
among  the  banished  by  law  in  September,  1778. 

SAMUEL  WATERHOUSE. 

SAMUEL  WATERHOUSE,  Esq.,  was  appointed  collector  of  the  cus 
toms  for  Boston,  in  1772 ;  a  loyalist  in  1775 ;  he  retreated  to  Phila- 

65 


514  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

delphia  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lexington  ;  was  an  absentee,  and 
included  in  the  proscription  act  of  September,  1778. 

JUDGE  PUTNAM. 

HON.  JAMES  PUTNAM,  bom  in  1725,  in  the  part  of  Salem  now 
called  Danvers,  was  a  relative  of  the  distinguished  patriot  General 
Israel  Putnam  ;  he  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1746 ;  studied 
Jaw  with  Judge  Trowbridge,  who  was  ever  his  friend  and  associ 
ate.  He  commenced  practice  at  Worcester,  where  his  office  was 
soon  thronged  with  clients,  whose  confidence  he  ever  retained. 
He  became  eminent  as  a  well-read  lawyer,  skilful  in  pleading  and 
safe  in  counsel.  He  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the  prov 
ince  when  Jonathan  Sewall  was  raised  to  the  bench  of  the  court 
of  admiralty,  and  was  the  last  under  the  provincial  government. 
Putnam  was  a  firm  and  zealous  loyalist,  and  took  refuge  in  Bos 
ton,  accompanied  the  British  army  to  New-York,  thence  to  Halifax, 
where  he  embarked  for  England  in  1776. 

On  the  organization  of  the  government  of  the  province  of  New 
Brunswick  in  1783,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  his  majesty's 
counsel,  and  a  judge  of  the  superior  court.  He  resided  in  the  city  of 
St.  John's,  and  continued  in  office  till  his  death,  which  occurred  23d 
Oct.,  1789. 

He  was  stern  as  a  judge,  but  patient  and  inflexibly  just.  Re 
served  in  private  life,  his  wit  and  humor  were  irresistible.  It  was  said 
(to  Charles  S.  Putnam,  Esq.,  of  Fredericton,  a  descendant)  by  a  suc 
cessor  on  the  bench,  that  he  was  "  an  unerring  lawyer,  never  astray, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think,  the  best  lawyer  in  North  America" 

DR.  RUSSELL. 

DR.  CHARLES  RUSSELL,  son  of  Hon.  James  Russell,  of  Charles- 
town,  succeeded  to  his  uncle  Judge  Chambers  Russell's  estate  at 
Lincoln  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1757  ;  married  Elizabeth, 
only  child  of  Col.  Henry  Vassall,  of  Cambridge  ;  sailed  for  Mar 
tinique  in  April,  1775  ;  was  proscribed  in  the  Massachusetts  ban 
ishment  act  of  1778  j  was  a  physician  at  Antigua,  where  he  died 
in  1780. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES,  515 

JOHN  VASSALL. 

JOHN  VASSALL,  Esq.,  Cambridge,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
1757  [son  of  Col.  John  Vassall,  who  graduated  in  1732]  ;  the  noble 
mansion  he  built  became  Washington's  head-quarters  in  1775-6. 
He  lived  in  princely  style  there,  but,  having  taken  a  very  active  part 
to  uphold  the  royal  cause  in  vain,  he  resigned  all  to  the  ravagers ; 
and  large  estates  being  still  left  to  him  in  Jamaica,  went  with  his 
family  to  England.  His  loyalty  went  so  far  that  he  would  not  use 
on  his  arms  the  family  motto,  "  scepe  pro  rege,  semper  pro  repub- 
lica."  Of  his  four  sons,  Spencer,  the  eldest,  rose  to  be  a  lieut. 
colonel  in  his  majesty's  service,  and  his  gallantry  at  the  assault  on 
Monte  Video,  where  he  fell,  Feb.,  1807,  won  for  him  abundant  praise. 

He  was  proscribed  by  the  Massachusetts  assembly  in  the  ban 
ishment  act,  Sept.,  1778 ;  and  died  at  Clifton,  England,  October  2d, 
1797,  aged  60,  immediately  after  rising  from  a  hearty  dinner.  His 
widow  died  there,  March  31,  1807. 

LIEUT.  GOV.  T.  OLIVER. 

HON.  THOMAS  OLIVER,  the  last  colonial  lieut.  governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  a  native  of  Dorchester,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
1753.  In  1774  he  was  made  lieut.  governor,  as  well  as  manda 
mus  counsellor,  but  his  life  had  been  previously  so  retired,  and  his 
habits  and  tastes  so  much  in  unison,  as  to  give  some  color  to  the 
rumor  of  the  day,  that  Thomas  had  been  mistaken  for  Peter  (the 
chief  justice)  in  making  out  the  commission.  He  is  spoken  of  by 
the  few  who  remember  him,  as  a  model  of  affability  and  courtesy. 
He  married  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Vassall ;  built  and  occupied 
the  elegant  mansion  in  Cambridge,  long  the  residence  since  of  Gov. 
Gerry.  Col.  Oliver  was  a  refugee,  and  included  in  the  proscription 
act  of  September,  1778.  He  died  at  Bristol,  England,  Nov.  29, 
1815,  aged  82.  He  was  a  man  of  letters,  and  lived  in  the  shades 
of  retirement  while  he  was  in  Europe. 

CAPT.  POYNTON. 

THOMAS  POYNTON,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  His  windows  were 
broken  by  the  mob,  because  he  refused  to  recant  for  addressing 
Gov.  Hutchinson  ;  retreated  to  England  in  1775,  where  he  died. 

T.  DANFORTH. 

THOMAS  DANFORTH,  Esq.,  son  of  Judge  Danforth,  of  Cambridge, 


516  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

where  he  graduated  in  1762 ;  pursued  the  profession  of  the  law  at 
Charlestown  till  the  Revolution,  when  he  became  a  refugee.  He 
ended  his  course  in  London,  April,  1820,  where  he  practised  many 
years  in  his  profession.  He  was  proscribed  in  the  act  of  Massachu 
setts,  Sept.,  1778. 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  OLIVER. 

HON.  PETER  OLIVER,  LL.  D.,  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts,  and 
brother  of  Lieut.  Governor  Andrew  Oliver.  Their  father  was  the 
Hon.  Daniel  Oliver,  of  Boston,  a  member  of  the  council,  distin 
guished  alike  for  his  piety,  public  spirit  and  philanthropy.  Judge 
Oliver  was  born  in  1713,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1730.  He  was  appointed  to  the  supreme  bench  of  the  province 
September  15,  1756.  His  residence  was  at  Middleborough.  On 
the  appeal  made  to  the  judges  by  the  general  assembly  in  Febru 
ary,  1774,  whether  they  had  received  any  part  of  their  allowance 
from  the  king,  he  alone  of  all  the  judges  dared  to  brave  popular 
sentiment,  and  answered  that  he  "  had  accepted  the  king's  bounty, 
and  could  not  refuse  it  in  future  without  royal  permission."  This 
caused  the  concentrated  weight  of  indignation  to  fall  upon  him. 
The  assembly  voted  that  he  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  the 
people  as  an  enemy,  and  immediately  presented  a  petition  for  his 
removal.  Articles  of  impeachment  for  high  crimes  and  misde 
meanors  were  exhibited,  which  Gov.  Hutchinson  refused  to  coun 
tenance.  The  grand  jury  at  Worcester,  on  the  19th  of  April  fol 
lowing,  presented  to  the  court  a  written  refusal  to  serve  under  the 
chief  justice,  considering  it  illegal  for  him  to  preside  until  brought 
to  answer  to  the  above-mentioned  charges.  He  became  a  refugee 
in  1775,  and  died  at  Birmingham,  England,  in  October,  1791,  aged 
79.  His  son  Peter  died  at  Shrewsbury,  England,  in  1822,  aged  81. 

JUDGE  RUSSELL. 

HON.  CHAMBERS  RUSSELL,  son  of  Hon.  Daniel  Russell,  of  Charles- 
town,  Massachusetts,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1731. 
Was  a  representative  from  Lincoln  in  the  legislature  ;  afterwards 
a  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  Massachusetts,  from  1752  to  1761 ; 
also  a  judge  of  admiralty.  He  died  Nov.  24,  1767,  aged  54,  in 
London,  whither  he  went  in  pursuit  of  health. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  517 

DR.  LLOYD. 

JAMES  LLOYD,  M.  D.,  was  born  at  Lloyd's  Neck,  Long  Island, 
(New-York,)  in  1728 ;  a  son  of  Henry  and  grandson  of  James 
Lloyd  of  Boston,  who  died  there  in  1693.  At  the  age  of  seventeen 
he  removed  to  Boston,  where  his  two  elder  brothers  were  settled; 
one  of  them  was  agent  of  purchases  for  the  British  government, 
and  held  the  office  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  Here 
he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Clarke,  and  after 
completing  his  studies  in  Paris,  he  commenced  practice  in  1752. 
He  was  soon  after  surgeon  of  the  garrison  in  Castle  William 
in  Boston  harbor,  and  was  in  extensive  practice  in  the  town  and 
vicinity,  before  the  arrival  of  the  troops  in  1775,  under  command 
of  Sir  William  Howe,  who  sought  out  and  renewed  his  acquaint 
ance  with  Dr.  Lloyd,  his  former  physician.  Sir  WTilliam  and  Earl 
Percy  became  his  tenants,  having  rented  an  adjoining  estate  (late 
Gardner  Green,  Esq.'s)  then  under  his  care,  belonging  to  his 
relative  Mr.  Vassall. 

Immersed  in  the  labors  of  his  profession,  and  interfering  no  fur 
ther  in  politics  than  an  expression  of  his  sentiments  ;  not  theorizing 
as  to  the  future,  and  seeing  the  country  at  large  generally  happy 
and  increasing,  it  is  not  surprising  that  with  many  other  patriotic 
men,  Dr.  Lloyd  should  have  thought  that  the  time  for  final  separa 
tion  from  the  mother  country  had  not  arrived,  and  that  a  course 
less  decisive  might  have  procured  a  redress  of  grievances  without 
passing  through  the  hazards  of  a  revolution.  Events  may  have 
proved  the  errors  of  these  opinions,  but  as  the  results  of  an  honest 
independence  of  judgment,  they  were  never  disguised  by  Dr.  Lloyd. 
He  was  an  addresser  of  Gov.  Gage  in  1775,  and  consequently  a 
loyalist,  though  never  molested.  In  1785  he  protested  against  the 
alteration  of  the  liturgy  at  King's  Chapel,  Boston.  He  died  at 
Boston  in  March,  1810,  "  full  of  years  and  full  of  honors  j  an  orna 
ment  to  his  profession,  an  example  to  his  survivors,  with  the  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  him,  and  the  blessing  of  those  ready  to  perish." 
He  left  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Borland,  relict  of  Leonard  Vassall 
Borland,  and  a  son  worthy  of  such  a  father,  the  late  Hon.  James 
Lloyd,  LL.  D.,  who  for  many  years  represented  Massachusetts  in 
the  senate  of  the  United  States. 


518  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

F.  WALDO. 

FRANCIS  WALDO,  second  son  of  General  Waldo  of  Portland, 
Maine ;  he  was  a  representative  of  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  in 
1761-2,  and  the  first  collector  of  that  port.  He  graduated  at  Har 
vard  College  in  1747 ;  was  a  refugee  in  1775,  and  died  in  Kent, 
England,  May  9,  1784. 

B.  HALLOWELL. 

BENJAMIN  HALLOWELL,  Esq.,  a  comptroller  of  the  customs,  Bos 
ton,  but  resided  at  Medford;  went  to  England  a  refugee  ;  at  the 
peace  returned  to  America  and  resided  in  Canada,  where  his 
daughter  married  Chief  Justice  Elmsly,  and  now  resides  at  Toronto, 
a  widow,  with  her  son  and  daughter. 

D.  BLISS. 

DANIEL  BLISS,  Esq.,  eldest  son  of  Rev.  Samuel  Bliss,  of  Con 
cord,  born  in  1740 ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1760 ;  stud 
ied  law  with  Abel  WillanJ,  Esq.,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
May,  1765.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Murray,  of  Rut 
land.  He  had  a  high  standing  at  the  bar,  being  well  versed  in  his 
profession,  and  enjoying  a  good  reputation  as  a  general  scholar, 
and  as  a  man  of  high  moral  and  religious  principle.  He  was  early 
imbued  with  principles  favorable  to  the  prerogative;  but  was  never 
a  bitter,  nor  even  a  warm  partisan.  He  was  urged  to  join  the 
popular  party,  but  his  oath  of  allegiance  awakened  scruples  of  con 
science,  and  his  family  ties,  friendship,  and  society,  gave  force  to 
his  objections.  He  repaired  to  Boston  with  his  family  a  few  days 
before  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  and  thence  with  the  British 
troops  to  Quebec.  He  was  appointed  commissary  of  the  army,  and 
for  not  making  use  of  the  facilities  and  opportunities  which  the 
office  afforded  for  speculation,  all  he  got  for  his  honesty  was,  as  he 
told  a  friend,  to  be  laughed  at  by  the  British  officers. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  settled  at  Fredericton,  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  sustained  the  office  of  chief  justice  of  the 
inferior  court,  and  resided  till  the  time  of  his  death  in  1806.  He 
revisited  his  native  state,  and  would  gladly  have  spent  his  days 
there  in  the  midst  of  his  early  associations,  but  the  decree  of  gov 
ernment  was  an  effectual  barrier  to  it. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  519 

He  possessed  an  active  and  sprightly  mind,  with  great  fluency 
and  fascination  in  conversation.  Of  his  sons,  the  elder,  in  the 
British  army,  resides  in  Ireland;  the  younger,  John  Murray  Bliss, 
is  a  distinguished  judge  in  New  Brunswick. 

COL.  UPHAM. 

JOSHUA  UPHAM,  Esq.,  the  son  of  Dr.  Upham,  of  Brookfield,  was 
born  in  that  town  in  1741.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Univer 
sity  in  1763,*  in  a  class  with  several  who  afterwards  acted  impor 
tant  parts  on  the  general  stage.  One  of  the  first  woollen  factories 
ever  attempted  in  this  country  he  established  in  1768,  at  Brookfield. 
On  finishing  his  professional  studies,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Worcester,  August,  1765.  He  commenced  practice  in  his 
native  town,  and  pursued  his  business  with  successful  assiduity  in 
the  courts,  till  1776,  or  the  following  year.  He  removed  from 
Brookfield  to  Boston,  where  he  resided  till  1778,  and  thence  to 
New- York,  where  he  continued  during  the  remainder  of  the  war. 
While  in  New-York  he  was  aid-de-camp  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and 
before  he  left  the  British  army,  became  a  colonel  of  dragoons. 

On  the  organization  of  the  government  of  the  province  of  New- 
Brunswick,  in  1784,  Upham,  who  had  been  one  of  the  first  settlers 
there,  returned  to  his  favorite  science,  the  law.  He  was  appointed 
judge  of  the  highest  court  in  the  province,  and  sustained  the  impor 
tant  and  responsible  duties  of  his  office  with  industry  and  ability. 

In  1807,  he  was  selected  by  his  brethren  on  the  bench  to  visit 
England,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  the  government  a  more 
perfect  organization  and  arrangement  of  the  judiciary  in  the  British 
American  provinces.  He  fully  succeeded  in  the  object  of  his  ap 
pointment,  but  did  not  live  to  return  to  his  country.  He  died  in 
London  in  the  year  1808.f  While  in  London,  he  enjoyed  the 

*  The  late  Timothy  Pickering  was  his  class-mate  and  room-mate.  Their 
early  friendship  survived  the  bitter  and  hostile  spirit  that  grew  up  inter  partes 
iu  the  revolutionary  war.  On  the  return  of  peace,  they  renewed  their  cor 
respondence,  which  is  said  to  have  been  of  an  affectionate  and  delightful 
character. 

f  He  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Mary-le-bone.  Judge  Upham  was  twice 
married.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Col.  Murray  of  Rutland  ;  and  the 
second  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Joshua  Chandler,  of  New-Haven. 


520  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

friendship  of  Mr.  Palmer,  who  afterwards  bequeathed  his  valuable 
library  to  our  university,  of  Sir  John  Wentworth,  Sir  William 
Pepperell,  Lord  Dorchester,  and  Mr.  Percival.* 

Judge  Upham  held  a  high  rank  as  counsellor  and  advocate  ; 
he  had  a  great  command  of  language  ;  not  a  mere  flow  of  words, 
but  the  music  and  harmony  of  arrangement  and  style ;  the  well  of 
English  undefiled,  and  adorned  with  classical  elegance.  He  pos 
sessed,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  that  rare  talent,  fine  powers  of 
conversation,  of  which  Lord  Bacon  laid  down  the  true  rule,  and 
indulged  occasionally  in  a  happy  vein  of  satire.  With  brilliancy 
and  wit,f  he  united  many  virtues,  and  a  sound  judgment.  "  The 
prevailing  excellence  of  his  character,"  to  use  the  words  of  one 
who  fondly  cherishes  his  memory,  "was  a  benignity  of  spirit, 
which  seemed  to  affect  the  exercises  of  his  intellect,  as  well  as  of 
his  affections." 

Judge  Upham  was  pleasing  in  his  person  and  address,  while  he 
was  imbued  with  all  that  grace  which  comes  before  education, 
and  which  education  can  hardly  bestow.  Like  Bliss,  he  was  of 
that  peculiar  class  of  the  old  school  of  manners,  of  which,  pro 
bably,  even  the  youngest  among  us  have  seen  some  surviving 
specimens. 

COL.  WILLARD. 

ABIJAH  WILLARD,  of  that  part  of  Lancaster  now  called  Har 
vard,  Worcester  county,  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  born  in 
1722 ;  was  appointed  one  of  the  mandamus  counsellors,  took  re 
fuge  at  Brooklyn,  Long  Island,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  settled 
at  Lancaster  in  New  Brunswick,  where  he  died,  in  May,  1789, 
aged  67.  His  family  returned  to  Lancaster,  Massachusetts,  after 

#  Mr.  Percival,  then  prime  minister,  a  few  days  before  he  was  assassinated, 
sent  to  the  son  of  Judge  Upham  £100  sterling  to  assist  him  in  his  education. 
This  son  is  the  Rev.  Charles  W.  Upham,  now  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  well 
known  by  his  historical  writings. 

f  Major  Garden,  in  his  interesting  volume  of  anecdotes  of  the  war  in  the 
southern  department,  relates  an  anecdote  of  Upham  that  may  well  be  intro 
duced  here.  The  British  troops,  it  will  be  recollected,  were  in  red,  and  the 
American  in  blue  uniforms.  "  About  the  period  of  the  final  departure  of  the 
British  from  New- York,  an  excellent  repartee  made  by  Major  Upham,  aid- 
de-camp  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  to  Miss  Susan  Livingston,  has  been  much  cele- 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  521 

his  death.  A  son  and  daughter  are  now  living  at  the  homestead ; 
the  daughter  was  the  second  wife,  and  is  now  the  widow  of  the 
Hon.  Benjamin  Goodhue,  late  senator  in  Congress  from  Massachu 
setts.  Mr.  Willard  was  in  the  army  in  different  grades,  from  the 
taking  of  Louisburg  to  the  peace  of  1763.  He  was  at  the  taking 
of  Quebec,  where  he  commanded  a  regiment,  and  what  is  some 
what  remarkable,  he  raised  his  regiment  in  thirty  days,  and  was 
ready  to  march  for  the  reduction  of  Canada  under  Lord  Amherst. 
There  were  few  in  his  station  that  did  more  for  his  country  than 
he,  in  civil  or  military  capacity,  until  1775,  when  the  troubles  with 
the  mother  country  commenced.  He  was  the  first  person  perse 
cuted  for  his  loyalty  in  America,  which  induced  him  to  reside 
under  the  British  government  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  never 
bore  arms  against  America ;  though  offered  a  colonel's  commission 
by  Gen.  Howe,  he  refused,  saying,  "  he  would  never  fght  against 
his  country"  '  He  was  commissary  to  the  British  troops  at  New- 
York,  and  much  ridiculed  by  the  officers  for  accounting  to  the 
government  for  various  items  that  loose  commissaries  had  habitu 
ally  appropriated  to  their  own  use  as  perquisites. 

ABEL  WILLARD. 

ABEL  WILLARD,  Esq.,  the  earliest  lawyer  in  the  north  part  of 
Worcester  county,  was  the  son  of  Col.  Samuel  Willard,  of  Lancas 
ter,  who  for  some  years  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  court  of  common 
pleas.  The  son  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Jan.  12,  1732,  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1752,  and  studied  law  in  Boston,  with 
Benjamin  Pratt,  the  distinguished  scholar  and  jurist,  well  known 
at  that  period.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Worcester,  Novem 
ber  term,  1755 ;  he  at  once  went  into  extensive  business  in  his 
native  town,  and  devoted  his  time  and  opportunities  to  the  profes 
sion  till  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  His  talents  were  quite 
respectable  j  he  was  regarded  as  a  sound  jurist,  and  much  reliance 

brated.  '  In  mercy,  major,'  said  Miss  Livingston,  "  use  your  influence  with 
the  commander-in-chief  to  accelerate  the  evacuation  of  the  city  ;  for,  among 
your  incarcerated  belles,  your  meschianza  princesses,  the  scarlet  fever  must 
continue  to  rage  till  your  departure.'  '  I  should  studiously  second  your 
wishes,'  replied  the  major,  '  were  I  not  apprehensive  that,  freed  from  the 
prevailing  malady,  a  worse  would  follow,  and  that  they  would  be  immediately 
tormented  with  the  blue  devilsS  " 

66 


522  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

was  placed  upon  his  opinion.  No  one  was  ever  a  greater  bene 
factor  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  he  lived;  instead  of  fomenting 
quarrels,  and  lending*  himself  to  the  complaint  of  every  one  who 
might  come  to  him  with  a  list  of  grievances,  he  did  all  in  his  power 
to  check  the  angry  passions  of  clients,  and  promote  peace.  He 
would  frequently  accompany  a  client  to  the  party  complained  of, 
and  succeed  in  reconciling  their  differences.  Indeed,  so  far  did  he 
overcome  the  prejudices  of  the  many,  then  entertained  against  the 
profession,  that  he  was  emphatically  termed  the  honest  lawyer. 
Willard  possessed  that  true  modesty  that  ever  marks  the  ingenuous 
mind ;  and,  although  of  a  cast  of  character  approaching  somewhat 
to  timidity,  he  was  full  of  moral  courage,  of  stem  integrity,  and 
unyielding  purity  of  principle.  In  his  person  he  was  tall  and  of 
good  figure.  In  his  disposition  he  was  mild  and  conciliating,  and 
his  good  qualities  were  marked  in  his  benignant  expression. 

In  September,  1770,  he  formed  a  partnership  in  his  profession 
with  the  late  Judge  Sprague,  of  Lancaster,  which  is  believed  to 
have  been  the  earliest  connection  of  the  kind  in  the  county  of 
Worcester.  He  might  have  remained  in  that  town  in  peace  and 
respect,  and  indeed  with  high  personal  consideration,  during  the 
invading  bitterness  and  the  easily  adopted  suspicions  and  preju 
dices  of  our  revolutionary  struggle  ;  but,  alarmed  at  the  approach 
ing  tempest,  and  with  many  others  believing  that  it  would 
overwhelm  every  thing  in  its  course,  he  resorted  to  Boston  during 
the  impending  danger,  when  the  character  of  the  contest  became 
at  once  fixed,  and  it  was  impossible  again  to  pass  the  dividing  line. 
He  left  the  country  during  the  war,  and  died  in  England,  Nov. 
1781.  His  widow*  survived  him,  and  died  in  Boston  but  a  few 
years  since.  Col.  Abijah  Willard,  before  noticed,  was  his  bro 
ther. 

RUFUS   CHANDLER. 

RUFUS  CHANDLER,  Esq.,  the  son  of  Col.  John  Chandler,  was 
born  at  Worcester,  May  18,  1747.  He  was  fitted  for  college  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Harrington,  of  Lancaster,  and  graduated  at  the  uni- 

*  A  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers  of  Littleton  ;  another  daughter 
%as  the  wife  of  Samuel  Parkman,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  New. 
hall  of  Stow.— Address  of  J.  Willard  at  Worcester,  1829. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  523 

versity  in  Cambridge  in  1766 ;  he  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  with  James  Putnam,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  Nov.  term, 
1768.  From  that  time  till  the  closing  of  the  courts  in  1774,  he 
continued  in  the  profession  at  Worcester.  Like  most  of  the  influ 
ential  family  of  his  name,  who  had  had  extensive  and  almost 
unbounded  sway  in  that  county  ab  primo  origine,  he  adhered  to  the 
royal  party,  and  left  the  country  during  the  war.  He  ever  after 
wards  resided  in  London  as  a  private  gentleman,  till  his  death, 
October  llth,  1823  ;  he  was  proscribed  by  the  act  of  1778.  He 
was  not  distinguished  for  eloquence,  nor  for  great  intellectual 
power,  but  he  held  a  respectable  rank  in  his  profession,  and  gained 
much  praise  in  the  practical  parts  of  his  business ;  and  for  his  neat 
ness,  accuracy,  and  punctuality  as  an  office  lawyer.  His  fidelity 
to  his  clients  insured  him  their  esteem,  and  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  business.  Through  life  he  observed  the  strictest  rules 
of  economy,  the  rather  from  a  regard  for  such  as  had  a  right  to 
his  aid,  than  from  any  love  of  money  for  its  own  sake.  In  his  per 
sonal  habits  he  was  remarkably  precise ;  he  was  the  nice  man  ; 
he  possessed  great  moral  worth  and  purity,  and  a  conciliating  dis 
position.* 

COMMODORE  LORING. 

JOSHUA  LORING,  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  was  one  of  the  five  com 
missioners  of  the  revenue,  and  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1778 ;  his 
son  Benjamin,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1772,  was  an 
absentee,  but  not  proscribed  j  his  eldest  son,  Joshua  Loring,  jr.,  was 
an  addresser  of  Gov.  Gage,  and  proscribed  in  1778. — Commo 
dore  Loring  died  an  exile,  in  1781. 

ISAAC   ROYALL. 

HON.  ISAAC  ROYALL,  of  Medford,  was  remarked  by  every  one  for 
his  timidity ;  he  halted  between  two  opinions  respecting  the  Revo 
lution,  until  the  cannonading  at  Lexington  drove  him  to  Newbury- 
port,  where  he  embarked  for  Europe.  He  was  a  proscribed  refugee, 
and  his  estate,  since  that  of  Jacob  Tidd,  Esq.,  was  confiscated.  He 
died  of  small  pox  in  England,  Oct.  1781.  His  bounty  laid  the  first 
professorship  of  law  at  Cambridge,  and  a  legacy  of  plate  to  the  first 
*  See  Mr.  Willard's  Worcester  Address. 


524  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

church  at  Medford  shows  that  his  regard  for  his  country  was  not 
weakened  by  distance,  nor  seared  by  proscription.  He  bequeath 
ed  more  than  two  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Granby  and  Royalton, 
in  Worcester  county,  for  the  establishment  of  the  aforesaid  profes 
sorship.  He  was  for  twenty-two  years  a  member  of  the  council. 
His  virtues  and  popularity  at  first  saved  his  estate,  as  his  name  was 
not  included  with  those  of  his  sons-in-law,  Sir  William  Pepperell 
and  George  Erving,  in  the  "  conspirators'  act," — but  on  the  repre 
sentation  of  the  selectmen  of  Medford,  "that  he  went  voluntarily  to 
our  enemies"  his  property  was  forfeited  and  taken  under  the  con 
fiscation  act.  He  made  bequests  to  Medford  and  Worcester,  and 
legacies  to  the  clergymen.  While  a  member  of  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives,  he  presented  the  chandelier  which  adorns  its  hall. 

SIR  T.  BERNARD. 

SIR  THOMAS  BERNARD,  Bart.,  D.  C.  L.,  third  son  of  Sir  Francis, 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1767 ; 
entered  early  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  and  was  called  to  the  bar  in  1780  ; 
made  treasurer  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  1795.  The  death  of  his 
brother  (Sir  John)  in  the  West  Indies,  1809,  devolved  a  baronetcy 
upon  him.  Oxford  created  him  soon  after  a  doctor  of  the  civil 
law.  He  was  the  active  and  liberal  patron  of  various  charities, 
and  author  of  divers  small  tracts,  the  best  known  of  which  "  The 
Comforts  of  Old  Age,"  saw  a  fifth  edition  (12mo)  in  1820.  Sir 
Thomas  died  at  Leamington  Spa,  Warwickshire,  July  1st,  1818. — 
His  sister,  Mrs.  King,  was  authoress  of  a  volume  entitled  "  Scripture 
Characters  of  Females" 

GEORGE  ERVING. 

GEORGE  ERVING,  Esq.,  merchant  of  Boston,  was  a  refugee  includ 
ed  in  the  conspirators'  act;  married  previously  a  daughter  of  Isaac 
Royall,  Esq.,  of  Medford.  He  died  in  London,  January  16th,  1806, 
aged  70. 

LORD  G.  GERMAINE. 

LORD  GEORGE  GERMAINE,  afterwards  Lord  Sackville,  was  tried 
by  court  martial  on  account  of  his  conduct  at  the  battle'of  Minden  in 
1759,  and  disgraced.  To  him  has  been  attributed  the  authorship  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  525 

Junius's  Letters  ;  but  it  is  hardly  possible  that  an  officer  who  had 
been  publicly  pointed  at  and  formally  convicted  by  a  court  martial 
as  a  coward,  would  pen  the  following  remark  of  Junius  respecting 
himself:  "  His  character  is  known  and  respected  in  Ireland  as  much 
as  it  is  here  ;  and  /  know  he  loves  to  be  stationed  in  the  rear  as  well 
as  myself." 

He  was  secretary  of  state  for  the  American  department  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  it  is  generallyjadmitted  that  his  ad 
ministration  was  bad. 

In  a  letter  to  Lord^owe,  on  his  naval  conduct,  attributed  to  Lord 
Sackville,  he  says,  "  Had  your  lordship  and  your  brother  saved  the 
northern  army,  which  you  had  abundant  power  to  do,  the  rebellion, 
then  in  its  infant  state,  must  have  been  suppressed;  the  war  with 
France  and  Spain  had  not  happened  ;  and  what  is  yet  of  more  mo 
ment  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  empire,  that  faction,  which  is 
daily  distracting  the  councils  of  state  and  wrenching  asunder  the 
union  of  power  which  is  necessary  to  its  safety,  would  now  hide  its 
monstrous  head  in  the  dark  cells  of  its  own  folly  and  treason." 

Gen.  Howe  had  fiiends  in  parliament,  and  Lord  George  Ger- 
maine's  orders  and  instructions  were  the  subject  of  their  philippics ; 
and  they  were  powerful  enough  to  make  that  minister  retire. 

SIR  W.  DRAPER. 

SIR  WILLIAM  DRAPER  rendered  himself  famous  by  his  correspon 
dence  with  "  Junius,"  in  vindication  of  the  character  of  the  Marquis 
of  Granby  as  commander-in-chief ;  for  although  as  a  writer  he  was 
second  only  to  Junius,  he  was  foiled  by  him,  and  withdrew  from  the 
contest  extremely  mortified.  He  soon  after  left  England,  arrived 
at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  January,  1769,  and  travelled  towards  the 
north  as  far  as  New-York,  receiving  every  attention  on  his  way. 
At  New-York  he  married  Miss  De  Lancey,*  "  a  lady  of  great  connec 
tions  there  and  agreeable  endowments"  says  the  London  Magazine 
for  1766.  She  died  in  1778.  In  1778  he  was  appointed  Governor 
of  Minorca.  He  built  at  Clifton  near  Bristol  a  monument  of  taste, 
and  called  it  "  Manilla  House ;"  and  he  also  erected  in  College 

*  Daughter  of  James  De  Lancey,  chief  justice  and  lieut.  governor  of  New 
York, who  died  in  1760. 


526  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

Green,  Bristol,  a  mausoleum  over  the  remains  of  his  parents,  whom 
he  delighted  to  honor. 

SIR  WM.  PEPPERELL. 

SIR  WILLIAM  PEPPERELL,  Bart.,  son  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Sparhawk, 
of  Kittery,  and  grandson  of  Sir  William  Pepperell,  Baronet,  the  hero 
of  Louisburg,  whose  only  daughter  was  mother  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1766,  and  was 
for  many  years  a  member  of  the  council  of  Massachusetts.  After 
the  decease  of  his  grandfather,  (who  adopted  him  on  the  death  of 
his  only  son  Andrew,)  he  was  created  successor  to  his  title  in  Oc 
tober,  1774.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Hon.  Isaac  Royall, 
of  Medford.  He  was  a  refugee,  and  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1778. 
He  died  in  Dorset-street,  Portman-square,  Dec.  2,  1816,  aged  70, 
having  previously  lost  lady  Pepperell  and  his  only  son  William.  His 
daughters  were  married  as  follows  : — Elizabeth  to  the  Rev.  Henry 
Hutton,  A.  M.,  of  London  ;  Mary  to  Sir  William  Congreve,  and 
Harriet  to  Sir  Charles  Thomas  Palmer,  Bart. — Lady  Palmer  and 
Lady  Congreve  were  living  in  1832. 

On  the  16th  Nov.  1774,  in  a  county  congress,  held  at  Wells, 
York  county  ,f  Maine,  he  was  denounced  as  follows  in  the  fourth 
resolution  passed  that  day  : 

"  Resolved — Whereas  the  late  Sir  Wm.  Pepperell,  honored  and 
respected  in  Great  Britain  and  America  for  his  eminent  services, 
did  honestly  acquire  a  large  and  extensive  real  estate  in  this  coun 
ty,  and  gave  the  highest  evidence  not  only  of  his  being  a  sincere 
friend  to  the  rights  of  man  in  general,  but  of  having  a  paternal  love 
to  this  county  in  particular ;  and  whereas  the  said  Sir  William,  by 
his  last  will  and  testament  made  his  grandson  residuary  legatee  and 
possessor  of  the  greatest  part  of  said  estate,  who  hath,  with  purpose 
to  carry  into  force  acts  of  the  British  parliament  made  with  appa 
rent  design  to  enslave  the  free  and  loyal  people  of  this  continent, 
accepted  and  now  holds  a  seat  in  the  pretended  board  of  counsel 
lors  in  this  province,  as  well  in  direct  repeal  of  the  charter  thereof 
as  against  the  solemn  compact  of  kings  and  the  inherent  rights  of 
the  people.  It  is  therefore  resolved,  that  he  hath  therefore  forfeit 
ed  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  all  true  friends  of  American 
liberty,  and,  with  other  pretended  counsellors  now  holding  their 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  527 

seats  in  like  manner,  ought  to  be  detested  by  all  good  men  :  and  it 
is  hereby  recommended  to  the  good  people  of  this  county,  that  as 
soon  as  the  present  leases  made  to  any  of  them  by  him  are  expired, 
they  immediately  withdraw  all  connection,  commerce  and  dealings 
from  him — and  that  they  take  no  further  lease  or  conveyance  of  his 
farms  and  mills  until  he  shall  resign  his  seat  pretendedly  occupied 
by  mandamus.  And  if  any  persons  shall  remain  or  become  his  ten 
ants  after  the  expiration  of  their  present  leases,  we  recommend  to 
the  good  people  of  this  county  not  only  to  withdraw  all  connec 
tion  and  commercial  intercourse  with  them,  but  to  treat  them  in 
the  manner  provided  by  the  third  resolve  of  this  congress." 

COL.  DAVID  PHIPS. 

COL.  DAVID  PHIPS,  son  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Spencer  Phips, 
of  Massachusetts,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1741; 
was  colonel  of  the  troop  of  guards  in  Boston,  1773  ;  an  addresser  of 
Gov.  Hutchinson  in  1774,  and  of  Gage  in  '75;  high  sheriff  of  Mid 
dlesex  county  in  1775.  Driven  into  Boston,  he  went  to  England, 
which  country  he  left  in  April,  1777,  for  America,  with  Admiral 
Montague,  and  afterwards  served  under  General  Knyphausen.  His 
house  at  Cambridge,  afterwards  Wm.  Winthrop's,  was  confiscated. 
He  died  in  England,  July  7,  1811,  aged  eighty-seven,  styled  in 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine  "  Capt.  David  Phips,  R.  N." 

His  sisters  married  Andrew  Bordman,  Judge  Joseph  Lee,  Col. 
John  Vassall,  and  Richard  Lechmere,  all  magnates  of  Cambridge. 

Several  books  of  the  British  peerage  represent  the  family  of 
the  Marquis  of  Normanby  (Lord  Mulgrave)  as  descended  from 
Sir  William  Phips,  governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1691.  This  is 
a  manifest  error;  Sir  William  having  no  children  adopted  his 
nephew  Spencer  Phips,  (afterwards  lieut.  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,)  father  of  Col.  Phips,  the  subject  of  this  article.  The 
ancestor  of  Lord  Mulgrave  was  Sir  Constantine  Phipps,  an  eminent 
London  lawyer  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne. 

JOSEPH  GALLOWAY. 

JOSEPH  GALLOWAY,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  speaker  of  the  assem 
bly  of  Pennsylvania  ;  a  member  of  the  first  congress,  1774;  changed 
sides,  and  joined  the  British  in  New- York  in  December,  1776  5 


528  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

went  to  England,  and  with  Gen.  Robertson,  in  1778,  misrepresented 
the  state  of  the  public  mind  and  resources  of  the  provinces.  Col. 
Trumbull,  in  a  letter  to  Gov.  Trumbull,  dated  Sept.  12, 1780, says: 
"  Mr.  John  Temple  (afterwards  Sir  John,  consul-general)  has  been 
indefatigable  in  his  endeavors  to  defeat  the  misrepresentations  of 
Gen.  Robertson  and  Mr.  Galloway  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of  com 
mons,  and  to  convince  this  country  of  the  impracticability  of  coer 
cing  America.  His  acquaintances  among  the  friends  of  America 
are  the  Dukes  of  Richmond  and  Rutland,  Mr.  D.  Hartley,  Dr. 
Price,  Mr.  Burke,  etc.,  who  pay  great  attention  to  his  information." 
He  died  in  England,  1803,  aged  seventy-three  years,  after  publish 
ing  several  works.  Mr.  Galloway  appeared  as  an  evidence  against 
Gen.  Howe,  in  the  house  of  commons,  at  the  instance  of  Lord 
George  Germaine ;  and  Eliot  says  of  Galloway :  "  Nothing  can 
exceed  the  perfidy  of  that  satellite  of  the  minister  of  war,  whose 
own  ignorance  and  gross  absurdities  were  more  glaring  than  Gen. 
Howe's." 

BENJAMIN  GRIDLEY. 

BENJAMIN  GRIDLEY,  Esq.,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1751, 
and  practised  law  at  Boston.  He  was  an  addresser  of  Gov.  Gage; 
proscribed  in  the  act  of  September,  1778. 

E.  WILLIAMS. 

ELIJAH  WILLIAMS,  Esq.,  attorney  at  law,  of  Deerfield,  Massa 
chusetts,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1764 ;  became  an  officer 
in  the  British  army,  soon  after  the  affair  at  Lexington,  in  April, 
1775 ;  returned  in  the  spring  of  1784,  and  received  half  pay  during 
life.  Died  in  1793,  aged  forty-seven. 

J.  JACKSON. 

HON.  JONATHAN  JACKSON  wras  treasurer  of  Harvard  College  from 
1807  to  1810,  when  he  died.  He  was  much  esteemed  as  a  man 
of  talents,  integrity,  and  of  amiable  and  courteous  manners. 

ADMIRAL  WINTHROP, 

ROBERT  WINTHROP,  vice-admiral  in  the  British  navy,  was  the 
youngest  son  of  John  S.  Winthrop,  Esq.,  of  New-London,  Connec- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES.  529 

ticut,  where  he  was  born,  Sept.  7,  1764.  On  his  father's  side,  he 
was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  early  governors  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  of  the  same  name  ;*  his  mother  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Sherriffe,  Esq.,  of  London,  whose  first  hus 
band  was  Capt.  John  Hay,  of  the  British  army.  After  the  death 
of  his  father,  young  Winthrop,  when  fourteen  years  of  age,  left 
New-London  for  New-York  under  a  flag  of  truce,  consigned  to 
the  care  of  a  maternal  uncle  attached  to  the  British  force  stationed 
here,  by  whom  a  midshipman's  warrant  was  obtained  for  him  in 
the  royal  navy.  Of  his  subsequent  career  the  following  notice, 
taken  from  an  English  publication,!  furnishes  an  interesting  though 
concise  account. 

"  May  10th,  1832,  died  at  Dover,  of  paralysis,  aged  seventy, 
ROBERT  WINTHROP,  Esq.,  vice-admiral  of  the  blue.  Mr.  Winthrop 
was  a  midshipman  on  board  the  Formidable,  bearing  the  flag  of 
Sir  George  B.  Rodney,  in  the  memorable  battle  of  April  12,  1782. 
He  was  a  lieutenant  in  1790,  and  at  the  conquest  of  Martinique,  in 
1794,  he  commanded  a  battalion  of  seamen,  attached  to  Prince 
Edward's  brigade.  In  the  spring  of  1796,  he  commanded  the 
Albicore  sloop  at  the  capture  of  St.  Lucia  ;  and  about  the  same 
time,  he  captured  near  Barbadoes,  1'Athenienne,  French  corvette, 
of  fourteen  guns.  He  was  afterwards  appointed  to  the  Undaunted 
frigate,  and  in  that  ship  had  the  misfortune  to  be  wrecked,  on  the 
Morant  Keys,  during  a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  August  27, 1796.  His 
post  commission  bore  date  Dec.  16,  following. 

"  Captain  Winthrop's  next  appointment  was  to  the  Circe,  of 
twenty-eight  guns,  stationed  in  the  North  Sea ;  and  in  June,  1798, 
he  served  in  the  expedition  sent  against  Ostend.  Major  General 
Coote,  who  commanded  the  army  employed  on  that  occasion,  has 
recorded  in  his  despatches,  l  the  indefatigable  exertions  and  good 
conduct'  of  Captain  Winthrop,  who  superintended  the  landing  of 
the  troops.  In  the  summer  of  1799,  Capt.  Winthrop  was  intrusted 

*  The  line  of  descent  was  as  follows  : — 1.  John  Winthrop,  first  governor 
of  Massachusetts,  died  in  1649.  2.  John  Winthrop,  jr.  governor  of  Connecticut, 
d.  1676.  3.  Wait  S.  Winthrop,  chief  justice  of  the  superior  court  of  Mas 
sachusetts^.  1717.  4.  John  Winthrop,  F.R.  S.,  d.  1747.  5.  John  S. 
throp,  father  of  the  admiral,  d.  1776. 

t  Gentleman's  Magazine.     London,  1832. 

67 


530  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

with  the  command  of  a  small  squadron,  employed  on  the  coast  of 
Holland,  the  boats  of  which,  in  the  night  of  the  27th  of  June,  very 
gallantly  cut  out  twelve  sail  of  merchantmen  from  the  Wackle, 
without  having  a  man  hurt,  notwithstanding  they  were  much 
annoyed  by  the  fire  from  the  enemy's  batteries  and  gun-boats.  On 
the  10th  of  July,  the  boats  also  cut  out  three  more  valuable  vessels, 
and  burnt  another  laden  with  stores. 

"  In  the  following  month  the  Circe  assisted  at  the  capture  of  the 
Helder  ;  on  which  occasion  all  the  Dutch  ships  lying  in  the  Nieuwe 
Diep,  together  with  the  naval  magazine  at  the  Nieuwe  Werk,  con 
taining  a  large  quantity  of  stores,  were  taken  possession  of  by 
Captain  Winthrop.  This  event  led  to  the  surrender  of  the  enemy's 
fleet  in  the  Texel.  In  October  of  the  same  year,  Capt.  Winthrop's 
boats,  under  his  own  immediate  direction,  carried  off  from  the  port 
of  Delfzel  a  sloop  of  war  and  schooner  j  the  Lynx  of  twelve  guns, 
and  the  Perseus  of  eight  guns. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1800,  in  the  expedition  against  Ferrol, 
Captain  Winthrop  commanded  the  Stag  frigate,  but  which  was 
unfortunately  stranded  in  Vigo  bay,  on  the  6th  of  September,  and 
was  obliged  to  be  destroyed  by  fire,  after  the  stores  had  been 
removed. 

"  On  the  renewal  of  war,  after  the  peace  of  Amiens,  Captain 
Winthrop  obtained  the  command  of  the  Ardent,  a  sixty-four  gun 
ship,  stationed  on  the  coast  of  Spain ,  where  he  drove  on  shore 
La  Bayonnaise,  French  frigate,  of  thirty-two  guns  and  two  hundred 
men,  from  the  Havana  bound  to  Ferrol.  The  crew,  to  prevent 
her  being  taken  possession  of,  set  her  on  fire,  by  which  she  was 
totally  destroyed.  The  Ardent  was  subsequently  employed  off 
Boulogne,  under  the  orders  of  Lord  Keith.  From  that  ship  he  was 
removed  into  the  Sybille  frigate,  about  July,  1805,  and  on  the  3d 
of  May,  1807,  he  captured  1'Oiseau,  French  letter-of-marque.  In 
the  ensuing  summer,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Dover  district  of  sea-fencibles.  He  attained  the  rank  of  rear- 
admiral  in  1809,  and  of  vice-admiral  in  1830. 

"  Admiral  Winthrop  married,  December  23,  1804,  Miss  Far- 
brace,  of  Dover,  by  whom  he  has  left  a  family  of  two  sons  and 
four  unmarried  daughters." 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  531 

THOMAS  LINDALL  WINTHROP. 

THOMAS  L.  WINTHROP,  LL.D.,  half-brother  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  New-London,  Conn.,  March  6,  1760.  His  mother  was  the 
only  daughter  of  Francis  Borland,  Esq.,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  and 
granddaughter  of  Timothy  Lindall,  Esq.,  of  Salem.  Mr.  Win- 
throp  began  his  collegiate  course  at  Yale  College,  but  finished  it 
at  Harvard,  where  he  graduated  in  1780.  Soon  after  taking  his 
bachelor's  degree,  he  embarked  at  Nantucket  for  Amsterdam,  in  a 
merchant  ship,  which  was  captured  on  the  passage  and  carried 
into  an  English  port  ;  by  permission  of  Admiral  Duckworth, 
however,  he  was  allowed  to  visit  London  on  his  parole,  and  after 
wards  travelled  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  on  the  continent. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to  the  United  States  writh 
Commodore  Truxton,  and  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  at  Bos 
ton,  where  he  continued  to  reside  during  the  remainder  of  a  long, 
useful,  and  not  unhonored  life. 

In  1786,  Mr.  Winthrop  was  married  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Sir  John  Temple,  and  granddaughter  of  Governor  Bowdoin.  The 
only  son  of  the  latter  having  no  issue  to  perpetuate  the  family 
name,  Mr.  Winthrop's  second  son,  the  late  James  Bowdoin,  of 
Boston,  a  gentleman  of  great  personal  worth  and  literary  distinc 
tion,  assumed  it  by  the  desire  of  his  uncle,  taking  with  the  name  a 
large  estate.*  Another  son  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  Hon.  Robert  C. 
Winthrop,  has  recently  represented  the  city  of  Boston  in  congress, 
with  distinguished  reputation. 

In  politics  Mr.  Winthrop  belonged  to  the  old  republican  party  ; 
he  was  several  times  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  senate,  and  in  1826, 
was  chosen  lieut.  governor  of  the  state,  by  the  votes  of  both  political 
parties,  which  office  he  continued  to  fill  by  successive  annual  elec 
tions,  until  his  retirement  in  1832.  He  was  an  active  and  liberal  pa 
tron  of  literary  and  benevolent  institutions,  over  several  of  which  he 
presided  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  was  for  a  long  period 
an  officer  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  At  the 
time  of  his  decease  he  was  president  of  the  American  Antiquarian  So 
ciety,  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  and  the  State  Agricul- 

*  Mr.  Bowdoin  contributed  many  valuable  papers  to  the  Collections  of 
the  Mass.  Hist.  Society,  being  deeply  conversant  with  the  early  history  of 
New  England. 


532  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

tural  Society  ;  and  the  libraries  of  the  two  former  institutions  were 
greatly  indebted  to  his  liberality  for  many  important  additions  to 
their  historical  treasures.  Governor  Winthrop  was  also  a  member 
of  various  other  learned  and  economical  institutions  both  in  this 
country  and  Europe,  with  some  of  which  he  maintained  a  constant 
correspondence.  Indeed,  the  greater  part  of  his  time  for  several 
years  before  his  death  was  devoted  to  these  objects,  and  to  the 
promotion  of  the  religious  and  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  day. 
He  died  universally  beloved  for  his  many  virtues,  and  respected  for 
his  public  services,  at  his  residence  in  Boston,  on  the  22d  of  Feb., 
1841,  having  nearly  completed  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 

Governor  Winthrop  was  in  his  person  tall  and  commanding, 
and  remarkable  for  the  elegance  and  suavity  of  his  manners ; 
enjoying  an  ample  fortune,  he  lived  in  a  style  of  generous  hospi 
tality,  and  for  many  years  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  at  his  table 
most  strangers  of  consideration  who  visited  the  New  England 
metropolis.  The  members  of  the  state  legislature,  and  of  the 
numerous  associations  with  which  he  was  connected,  have  reason 
to  remember  the  liberal  character  of  his  hospitable  attentions ;  and 
the  latter  lost  in  him  a  munificent  patron  and  benefactor.  In  his 
religious  opinions  he  was  firm,  but  catholic  and  tolerant;  attached 
to  the  communion  of  the  Episcopal  church,  he  died  as  he  had  lived, 
a  humble  and  sincere  Christian. 

N.  GORHAM. 

HON.  NATHANIEL  GORHAM,  born  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,  1738, 
was  often  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  in  1784  was  elected  to 
congress,  of  which  body  he  was  afterwards  president.  He  was 
also  a  judge  of  the  common  pleas  for  several  years,  and  assisted 
in  forming  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  a  member  of 
the  convention.  His  early  advantages  were  only  those  of  a  com 
mon  school,  but  possessing  talents  of  a  high  order,  he  appeared  to 
advantage  in  company  with  literary  men.  He  at  one  time  engaged 
in  mercantile  pursuits,  but  left  them  for  public  life.  In  debate  he 
had  independence  enough  to  dissent  from  measures  he  disapproved, 
and  therefore  he  did  not  escape  the  obloquy  of  the  ignorant,  who 
confounded  all  moderate  men  with  those  who  were  unfriendly  to 
the  cause  of  liberty.  He  died  in  1796. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  533 

DR.  APTHORP. 

REV.  EAST  APTHORP,  D.  D.,  born  in  Boston,  1733,  educated  at 
Cambridge,  England ;  took  orders,  returned,  and  was  settled  over 
the  church  erected  under  his  care  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
Here  he  published  a  pamphlet  in  defence  of  the  conduct  of  the 
"  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,"  which  was  attacked  by 
Dr.  Mayhew,  who  was  answered  by  Dr.  Seeker,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  This  controversy  rendered  his  situation  irksome,  and 
he  left  for  England.  It  was  thought  by  many,  that  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Cambridge  was  for  the  purpose 
of  converting  the  students,  who  were  generally  dissenters,  and 
with  ulterior  views,  which  excited  the  most  acrimonious  jealousy. 
Dr.  Apthorp  was  afterwards  successively  vicar  of  Croydon,  and 
rector  of  Bow  church,  London,  which  he  exchanged  for  the  pre 
bendary  of  Finsbury ;  he  had  many  friends  among  the  dignitaries 
of  the  church,  and  was  generally  beloved  and  respected.  He  mar 
ried  a  daughter  of  Foster  Hutchinson,  Esq.,  brother  of  Gov.  Hutch- 
inson.  His  only  son  was  a  clergyman.  His  daughters  married  Dr. 
Gary  and  Dr.  Butler,  heads  of  colleges,  and  a  son  of  Dr.  Paley. — 
His  sisters  were  married  to  Dr.  Thomas  Bulfinch,  of  Boston,  and 
Robert  Bayard,  Esq.,  of  New-York.  He  published  two  volumes  of 
Discourses  on  the  Prophecies,  delivered  at  the  Warburton  lecture, 
Lincoln's  Inn,  and  a  volume  in  answer  to  Gibbon.  The  last 
twenty-six  years  of  his  life  he  passed  at  Cambridge,  England,  with 
almost  total  loss  of  sight ;  he  died  April,  18 16. 

R.  WARD. 

RICHARD  WARD,  Esq.,  of  Salem,  son  of  Joshua  Ward,  one  of 
the  justices  for  Essex  county,  first  appointed  on  the  establishment 
of  republican  government  in  Massachusetts,  was  born  in  Salem, 
April  5,  1741.  He  ardently  espoused  the  popular  cause  with  his 
father,  and  opposed  the  arbitrary  measures  of  parliament.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  committee  of  safety  and  protection  during  the 
entire  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  under  direction  of  Gen.  Charles 
Lee  constructed  at  the  neck  the  fort  bearing  his  name,  for  the 
defence  of  the  harbor  and  town  of  Salem.  He  accompanied  Col. 
Pickering  with  the  regiment  in  which  he  was  a  subaltern  officer  as 


534  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

soon  as  the  Lexington  affair  was  known,  to  Meclford,  in  order  to 
intercept  the  enemy,  but  they  were  not  in  season.  They  also  took 
up  the  line  of  march  for  the  heights  of  Charlestown,  on  17th  June, 
but  arrived  too  late  to  participate  in  the  affair  of  Bunker  Hill. 

His  commission,  dated  at  Watertown,  June  6,  1776,  as  "  cap 
tain  of  the  third  company  of  the  first  regiment  of  Essex  county, 
whereof  Timothy  Pickering,  jr.,  is  colonel"  was  granted  " by  the 
major  part  of  the  council  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  Eng 
land"  and  by  them  signed  during  the  interval  between  colonial 
and  republican  government,  on  paper  bearing  the  impress  of  the 
crown  and  the  sign  manual  of  the  king,  with  the  colonial  seal  ap 
pended.  The  following  are  the  signatures  attached  to  it,  and  of 
those  who  signed  it,  one  was  afterwards  president  of  the  continental 
congress,  and  six  were  governors  and  lieutenant-governors  of  Mas 
sachusetts  : — viz.,  J.  Bowdoin,  J.  Winthrop,  Caleb  Gushing,  R. 
Derby,  Jr.,  T.  Gushing,  B.  Lincoln,  S.  Holten,  Jabez  Fisher,  Moses 
Gill,  B.  White,  William  Phillips,  Benjamin  Austin,  John  WThet- 
comb,  Henry  Gardner,  Daniel  Davis,  and  D.  Hopkins.  Mr.  Ward 
had  married  the  daughter  of  George  Curvven,  in  1762,  and  owing 
to  her  feeble  health,  the  cares  of  his  numerous  family  devolved  upon 
him ;  and  its  imperative  claims,  as  well  as  that  of  their  uncle's 
family,  (the  author  of  the  foregoing  Journal),  pressed  so  heavily 
that  he  was  obliged,  after  having  served  with  his  regiment  com 
manded  by  Col.  Pickering  in  New-Jersey,  under  Washington,  in 
1777,  to  retire  from  the  military  service  of  his  country.  He  was 
for  a  long  period  at  the  head  of  the  town  government,  and  a 
member  of  the  state  legislature,  as  well  as  an  acting  justice  of  the 
quorum  for  Essex  county  many  years.  He  wras  from  the  beginning 
prominent  in  the  ranks  of  the  anti-federal  or  old  republican  party, 
but  never  a  heated  partisan. 

Mr.  Ward  possessed  great  firmness  and  equanimity  of  temper, 
and  his  suavity  of  manners  and  obliging  disposition  endeared  him 
to  all.  He  died  in  November,  1824,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of 
his  age,  and  a  widowed  daughter  only  survives  of  his  large  family. 
Children  of  his  sons,  George  C.,  Samuel  C.,  and  Richard,  are 
living  in  different  parts  of  the  union. 


BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES.  535 

S.  A.  OTIS. 

HON.  SAMUEL  ALLYNE  OTIS,  a  brother  of  the  Hon.  James  Otis 
and  General  Joseph  Otis,  was  born  in  1741,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1759.  He  soon  after  became  a  merchant  of 
Boston.  In  1776  he  was  first  elected  a  representative  to  the  gen 
eral  court,  and  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
framed  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts.  During  the  Revolution 
he  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  war.  In  1787,  he  was  one  of  the 
commissioners  to  negotiate  with  the  insurgents  of  "  Shay's  Re 
bellion."  He  was  elected  a  member  of  congress  in  1788,  and  after 
the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  was  secretary  to  the  senate  of 
the  United  States,  which  office  he  filled  with  scrupulous  fidelity  and 
suavity  of  manner,  without  being  absent  from  his  post  a  single  day 
during  a  period  of  thirty  years,  and  till  his  death,  amidst  the  colli 
sion  of  party  strife,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all.  He  died  at 
Washington,  April  22,  1814,  aged  seventy -three.  Mr.  Otis  was 
first  married  to  the  only  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Harrison  Gray,  re 
ceiver-general  of  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  to  the  widow  of 
Edward  Gray,  Esq.  His  son,  Samuel  A.  Otis,  Esq.,  died  at  New- 
buryport  the  same  year  with  his  father.  His  other  son  is  the  Hon. 
Harrison  Gray  Otis,  of  Boston,  long  the  able  and  eloquent  repre 
sentative  of  Massachusetts  in  the  national  senate. 

S.  GARDINER. 

SYLVESTER  GARDINER,  M.  D.,  was  born  at  Narragansett,  Rhode 
Island,  in  1717  ;  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Boston, 
by  which,  and  the  importation  of  drugs,  he  accumulated  great 
wealth ;  he  also  inherited  an  extensive  landed  estate  in  Maine. 
He  married  the  widow  of  William  Eppes,  Esq.,  of  Virginia,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Col.  Benjamin  Pickman,  of  Salem,  Massachu 
setts,  and  died  at  Poole,  England,  leaving  a  son  William  Eppes, 
who  married  a  Miss  Randolph,  of  Bristol,  England,  and  whose  son 
is  an  assistant  commissary-general  of  the  British  army  ;  a  daugh 
ter,  Love  Eppes,  who  married  Sir  John  Lester,  of  Poole,  and  Abi 
gail  Eppes,  who  married  Richard  Routh,  Esq.,  also  a  loyalist. 

From  his  high  standing  and  extensive  acquaintance,  Dr.  Gar 
diner  selected  his  associates  from  such  as  were  congenial  to  his 
taste,  and  his  house  was  the  resort  of  the  literary  and  scientific 


536  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

from  both  sides  the  Atlantic.  Among  his  guests  were  Sir  William 
Pepperell,  Gov.  Hutchinson,  Earl  Percy,  Admiral  Graves,  Majors 
Pitcairn  and  Small,  and  General  Gage.  The  Revolution  broke  up 
these  associations,  and  after  the  siege  of  Boston  he  sought  shelter 
at  Halifax,  and  afterwards  in  England,  where  he  passed  with 
heavy  heart  ten  years  of  exile.  For  being  a  refugee,  his  large 
estate  and  stores  of  drugs  were  confiscated,  but  owing  to  some  er 
ror,  his  lands  in  Maine  were  recovered  after  his  return,  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  closed  his  eventful  life  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
August  8,  1786,  in  his  69th  year.  The  following  tribute  is  inscribed 
on  a  monument  erected  to  his  memory  at  Gardiner,  Maine : 

Sacrum  Memoriae 
SYLVESTRIS  GARDINER, 

Qui  natus,  haud  obscuro  genere,  in  insula  Rhodi, 

Studuit  Parisiis,  et  Bostonise  diu  medicinam  feliciter 

Exercuit.     Postquam  satis  opum  paravisset, 

Navavit  operam  ad  domandam  ornandamque 

Hanc  orientalem  regionem,  tune  incultam. 
Hie  sylvas  late  patentes  evertit,  molas  omnigenas 
^Edificavit,  omnia  rura  permultis  tuguriis  ornavit, 

Templum  Deo  erexit, 
Atque  haec  loca  habitantibus  pater-patrias  dici 

Profecto  meruit. 
Vir  acerrimo  ingenio,  medicus  sciens, 

Maritus  fidelis,  pius  in  liberos, 

In  obeundis  negotiis  vigilans,  sagax,  indefessus, 

Integer  vitas,  in  sacris  literis  doctus, 

Christians  fidei  omnino  addictus, 

Ecclesiaoque  Anglicanae  observantissimus, 

Mortuus  est  in  insula  Rhodi, 
Anno  Domini  MDCCLXXXVI,  aatatis  LXXIX.' 

Ut  viri  de  ecclesia,  deque  Republica  optime  merit! 

Memoriam  commendaret  posteris,  suseque  insuper 

Erga  avum  venerandum  pietatis  monumentum  extaret, 

Honorarium  hoc  m armor  erexit, 

Nepos  hseresque, 
Robertus  Hallowell  Gardiner. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  537 

DR.  JEFFRIES. 

DR.  JOHN  JEFFRIES,  of  Boston,  son  of  David  Jeffries,  Esq.,  born 
Feb.  5,  1744  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1763  ;  studied  in 
London,  and  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  Aberdeen  in 
1769.  He  was  a  physician  in  Boston  till  the  Revolution  ;  after 
wards  surgeon  of  a  ship  in  the  British  squadron  in  Boston  harbor, 
and  attended  the  wounded  at  Bunker  Hill;  went  to  Halifax  in 
1776  as  surgeon-general,  and  to  England  in  1779,  and  had  in  both 
places  professional  employment  under  the  crown.  He  recommenced 
his  regular  medical  life  in  London  in  1780,  and  on  the  7th  Jan 
uary,  1785,  he  acquired  a  sort  of  eclat  by  crossing  the  English 
channel  with  Blanchard  in  a  balloon,  when  he  landed  in  the  forest 
of  Guines  in  France,  which  procured  for  him  the  attention  of  the 
most  distinguished  personages  of  the  day,  and  an  introduction  to 
all  the  learned  and  scientific  societies  of  Paris.  He  returned  to 
Boston  in  1789,  to  an  extensive  practice  ;  and  delivered  the  first 
public  lecture  on  anatomy,  a  branch  of  his  profession  of  which  he 
was  very  fond.  After  a  successful  practice  of  fifty-three  years,  he 
died  at  Boston  on  the  16th  of  September,  1819,  aged  seventy-six 
years. 

C.  PAXTON, 

CHARLES  PAXTON,  Esq.,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs, 
and  the  writer  of  one  of  the  obnoxious  letters  to  Mr.  Whately, 
took  refuge  in  England  during  the  war.  He  was  a  pall-bearer  at 
Gov.  Hutchinson's  funeral  in  1780.  Of  his  subsequent  career  we 
have  no  information. 

LIEUT.  GOV.  GOLDEN. 

CADWALLADER  GOLDEN  was  born  at  Dunse,  Scotland,  17th  Feb., 
1688  ;  he  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  devo 
ted  himself  to  medicine  and  mathematics,  in  both  of  which  he  made 
great  proficiency. 

He  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania  in  1708,  where  he  practised 
physic  for  several  years,  and  then  returned  to  Great  Britain,  and 
acquired  reputation  as  a  medical  writer.  He  came  a  second  time 
to  America  in  1716,  and  after  passing  two  years  in  Pennsylvania, 
he  settled  at  New- York,  and  the  next  year  was  appointed  the  first 

68 


538  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

surveyor-general  of  the  lands  of  the  colony,  and  a  master  in  chan 
cery.  In  1720  he  was  a  king's  counsellor  under  Gov.  Burnet.  He 
had  resided  on  a  tract  of  land,  for  which  he  received  a  patent,  near 
Newburgh  on  the  Hudson,  then  on  the  frontier,  where  he  was  ex 
posed  to  attacks  from  the  Indians.  He  was  appointed  lieut.  gov 
ernor  of  New-York  in  1761,  and  occupied  this  station  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  being  repeatedly  at  the  head  of  affairs  by  the 
absence  or  death  of  several  governors.  While  acting  governor, 
the  stamps  arrived  and  were  placed  under  his  care  in  Fort  George. 
The  people  assembled  in  great  numbers,  determined  to  destroy 
them ;  but  although  the  fort  was  pronounced  untenable  by  engi 
neers,  and  the  people  threatened  to  kill  him,  he  defended  his  trust, 
and  succeeded  in  securing  it  on  board  of  a  British  man-of-war. 
He  was  burnt  in  effigy  by  the  populace,  who  destroyed  his  car 
riage.  After  Gov.  Tryon's  return  in  1775,  he  retired  to  his  seat 
at  Flushing  on  Long  Island,  wh9re  he  died  Sept.  28,  1776,  in  his 
89th  year.*  Mr.  Golden  wrote,  besides  numerous  medical  and  bo 
tanical  essays,  a  valuable  history  of  the  Five  Indian  Nations,  and 
an  essay  on  the  "  Principles  of  Action  in  Matter,"  to  which  is  an 
nexed  a  Treatise  on  Fluxions. 

Among  his  correspondents  were  Linnasus,  Gronovius,  the  Earl 
of  Macclesfield,  Dr.  Franklin,  and  many  other  of  the  most  scientific 
men  of  his  time. 

DR.  COOPER. 

MYLES  COOPER,  D.  D.,  president  of  King's,  now  Columbia  Col 
lege,  New-York,  was  born  in  1734,  and  educated  at  the  university  of 
Oxford,  where  he  graduated  as  master  of  arts  in  1760.  Arriving 
in  New-York,  and  recommended  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
as  well  qualified  to  assist  in  a  college,  he  was  received  by  Presi 
dent  Johnson  in  the  most  affectionate  manner,  and  appointed  pro 
fessor  of  moral  philosophy.  After  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Johnson, 
he  was  chosen  to  the  presidency  in  February,  1763.  Soon  after, 
Dr.  Clossey,  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  he  had 

*  The  seat  of  Gov.  Golden  at  Flushing  was  called  Spring  Hill  ;  it  was 
confiscated,  and  is  now  the  property  and  residence  of  Hon.  Benjamin  W. 
Strong. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  539 

also  taken  the  degree  of  doctor  of  physic,  was  appointed  professor 
of  natural  philosophy. 

A  grammar  school  was  also  established  and  connected  with 
the  college,  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Gushing,  from  Boston.  The 
classes  were  now  taught  by  Dr.  Cooper,  Dr.  Clossey,  and  Mr. 
Harper,  with  great  advantage. 

In  1775  Dr.  Cooper  was  a  stanch  loyalist,  and  on  being  dis 
covered  as  a  public  writer  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  a  large  mob 
assailed  him  in  the  night  at  the  college,  with  threats  against  him, 
but  Alexander  Hamilton  kept  them  at  bay  by  his  unsurpassed  elo 
quence,  while  Dr.  Cooper  escaped  to  a  friend's  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  city,  from  whence  he  was  put  on  board  a  vessel  bound  to  Eng 
land.  This  was  in  the  month  of  May,  1775. 

On  the  10th  of  the  same  month,  prior  to  his  departure,  Dr.  Cooper 
wrote  to  his  friend  and  fellow-sufferer,  Isaac  Wilkins,  Esq.,  who 
had  preceded  him  to  London,  as  follows  :  "  All  things  yet  in  statu 
quo.  On  Sunday  I  went  to  Morrisania  to  visit  Mrs.  Wilkins ;  she 
was  as  well  as  could  be  reasonably  expected,  after  parting  with 
you,  and  returned  that  evening  to  Castle  Hill,  where  I  hope  she 
will  enjoy  your  return  in  safety.  I  had  not  time,  you  know,  to 
write  by  you,  save  to  Mr.  Blackburn  and  Mr.  Vardill,  but  they  will 
sufficiently  introduce  you  to  all  whom  you  would  wish  to  see  for 
for  the  present.  If  I  think  of  any  thing  I  can  do  for  you,  I  will 
write  by  Mr.  Cooke,  for  Bristol  next  week,  and  I  will  let  no  op 
portunity  escape  that  I  hear  of,  without  giving  you  a  line,  whilst  I 
continue  in  this  country  of  confusion,  which  for  the  sake  of  the  col 
lege  I  am  minded  to  do  as  long  as  I  can  with  any  degree  of  pru 
dence.  Should  this  congress  be  as  hot  as  the  last,  we  are  undone; 
should  cooler  measures  be  adopted,  we  may  yet  be  preserved ;  for 
Britain,  though  stout,  is  exorable." 

From  Oxford,  Feb.  4,  1777,  where  he  had  resided  for  three 
months,  he  thus  writes  to  the  same  friend  then  at  Long  Island : 
"  Mr.  Wetherhead  wrote  me  about  Mr.  Seabury's  pay ;  I  have  ap 
plied  to  the  bishop  of  London  to  interfere  with  the  admiralty,  and 
hope  all  will  be  settled  to  his  satisfaction.  I  wish  much  to  hear 
from  him  ;  in  the  mean  time,  my  best  respects  to  him,  Wethei  head, 
Samuel  Bayard,  etc.  I  will  write  to  as  many  as  I  can  by  this  pack 
et,  but,  like  an  improvident  man,  I  have  deferred  the  business  to  the 


540  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

last,  and  now  am  called  upon  by  the  provost  to  attend  some  affairs 
of  the  college,  which  are  agitating  before  the  house  of  commons  ; 
so  that  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  say  whether  or  not  I  shall  be  able 
to  write  another  line.  Dr.  Clossey  shall  hear  from  me  pres 
ently." 

From  Edinburgh,  26th  Feb.,  1779,  he  wrote  to  the  same  friend 
at  Long  Island,  as  follows :  "  I  received  your  obliging  letter  of  2d 
October,  in  London ;  I  had  not  been  there  for  a  year  before,  and 
was  only  there  then  for  a  few  days,  having  gone  from  this  remote 
region  into  the  south  to  take  possession  of  a  very  small  living  pre 
sented  me  by  the  present  chancellor,  from  which  business  I  returned 
as  quickly  as  possible  to  this  city,  which  has  been  my  residence  for 
fourteen  months  past,  and  where  I  am  too  agreeably  situated  to 
think  of  moving  unless  for  the  better ;  or  unless  I  should  be  obliged 
to  reside  on  the  little  living  aforesaid  ;  or  unless,  which  would  be 
best  of  all,  a  happy  termination  of  American  disputes  should  enable 
me  to  resume  my  old  situation ;  and  till  such  an  event  takes  place, 
I  do  not  expect  to  be  completely  satisfied. 

"  You  gave  me  spirits  by  representing  matters  in  your  quarter  in 
a  better  light  than  I  had  viewed  them.  Indeed,  Drs.  Inglis  and 
Seabury  had  been  uniform  in  their  information,  so  much  of  it  as 
came  to  my  knowledge,  of  the  same  purport ;  but  the  corrobora 
tive  evidence  even  of  a  layman  to  two  priests  still  had  its  effect.  I 
wish  to  heaven  you  may  not  be  wrong  in  your  opinions.  My  most 
affectionate  regards  to  Mr.  Cutting,  Mr.  Golden,  the  Ludlows,  Dr. 
Ogden,  etc.,  whom  I  suppose  you  frequently  see." 

To  the  same  friend,  care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Inglis  at  New-York,  he 
wrote  from  Edinburgh,  May  30,  1783,  as  follows  :  "  0,  my  dear 
friend !  I  shed  tears  most  copiously  when  I  first  opened  your  letter, 
and  upon  the  perusal  of  it  now  in  order  to  answer  it,  I  am  more 
affected  than  before.  Heavens  !  what  confusion  must  you  all  be  wit 
nesses  of  in  your  unhappy  situation.  And  yet  I  cannot  help  form 
ing  some  hopes,  that  now  the  contest  is  ended  the  governing  pow 
ers  will  relax  their  severity,  and  endeavor  to  bring  over  to  them 
the  minds  of  those  whose  persons  and  properties  they  have  posses 
sion  of.  I  long  for  accounts  from  New-York  that  I  can  depend  upon ; 
for  I  have  not  received  a  line  from  any  of  my  correspondents  there 
since  their  independency ;  a  circumstance  that  must  occasion  such 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES.  541 

changes  in  the  American  system  as  cannot  be  conceived,  I  trust,  by 
the  wisest  at  this  distance. 

"  'Tis  true  I  have  taken  a  living  ;  it  is  in  Berkshire,  half-way 
between  London  and  Bath,  and  twenty-six  miles  from  Oxford ;  a 
spot  as  delightful  as  can  well  be  imagined,  yet  I  don't  know  if  ever 
I  shall  go  thither  to  reside.  I  am  as  pleasantly  situated  here  as  I 
could  wish  to  be." 

He  had  been  for  some  time  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Episco 
pal  chapel  of  Edinburgh,  where  he  died  May  1,  1785,  at  the  age 
of  51.  Dr.  Cooper  possessed  wit  and  humor  to  a  great  degree ;  and 
pleasing  manners,  united  to  agreeable  conversational  powers.  Al 
though  he  had  long  expected  death,  he  died  suddenly,  soon  after 
writing  the  following  epitaph  of  himself: 

"  Here  lies  a  priest  of  English  blood, 
Who,  living,  liked  whate'er  was  good  ; 
Good  company,  good  wine,  good  name  ; 
Yet  never  hunted  after  fame. 
But,  as  the  first  he  still  preferred, 
So  here  he  chose  to  be  interred  ; 
And,  unobserved,  from  crowds  withdrew, 
To  rest  among  a  chosen  few ; 
In  humble  hope  that  Sovereign  Love 
Will  raise  him  to  the  blest  above." 

SIR  F.  BARING. 

SIR  FRANCIS  BARING,  Bart.,  born  April  18th,  1750,  was  a  son  of 
John  Baring,  of  Larkbeer,  near  Exeter,  England,  from  which  city  the 
former  was  first  elected  to  parliament  on  the  9th  Nov.  1776,  an  in 
teresting  account  of  which  is  contained  in  the  third  chapter  of  this 
work.  He  early  distinguished  himself  by  his  accurate  knowledge  and 
dexterity  in  financial  calculations  at  the  eventful  period  in  which 
his  public  career  commenced,  and  the  reputation  thus  early  acquir 
ed  continued  throughout  his  life.  He  exhibited  a  just  knowledge  of 
the  interest  of  his  country,  and  an  anxiety  to  extend  her  commerce. 
In  negotiating  the  various  loans  required  from  time  to  time,  his  af 
fluence  and  talents  enabled  him  to  assist  the  minister,  and  he  final 
ly  became  the  leading  member  of  the  monied  interest ;  and  even 
the  prosperity  of  England,  at  certain  periods,  may  be  said  to  have 
revolved  around  him  as  its  primum  mobile.  He  was  designated  by 


542  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

Mr.  Erskine  as  "  the  first  merchant  of  the  world,"  and  his  services 
on  all  occasions  of  great  national  interest,  particularly  as  a  director 
of  the  East  India  Company  and  as  a  member  of  parliament,  were 
too  important  to  escape  the  notice  of  administration,  and  entitle 
his  memory  to  grateful  recollection.  The  honor  of  baronetcy  was 
conferred  upon  him  on  29th  May,  1793. 

Sir  Francis  possessed  such  influence  in  the  commercial  world, 
that  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  12th  September,  1810,  oc 
casioned  a  sensible  depression  in  the  public  stocks.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  William  Herring,  Esq.,  a  cousin  and  coheiress  of  Dr. 
Herring,  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

The  sister  of  Sir  Francis  married  the  celebrated  lawyer  John 
Dunning,  afterwards  Lord  Ashburton,  which  title  became  extinct 
at  the  decease  of  their  only  son. 

Sir  Thomas  Baring,  born  in  1772,  succeeded  his  father  in  the  bar 
onetcy.  Another  son,  Alexander  Baring,  now  Lord  Ashburton,  be 
came  the  head  of  the  great  commercial  house,  and  did  not  retire  from 
it  until  1830.  He  was  born  in  1774,  visited  this  continent  in  1794, 
and  travelled  through  the  greater  portion  of  the  then  United  States 
on  horseback,  before  1797.  He  met  the  present  king  of  France  at 
the  Falls  of  Niagara  when  there  was  but  one  house  in  Buffalo,  and 
that  a  very  indifferent  one.  Mr.  Baring  married  a  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  William  Bingham,  one  of  the  most  opulent  and  public 
spirited  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  then  a  senator  in  congress  from 
Pennsylvania.  The  house  of  Baring,  Brothers  &  Co.  have  with 
scrupulous  fidelity  attended  to  the  interests  of  the  United  States  as 
government  agent  for  nearly  half  a  century,  which  entitles  every 
member  of  it  to  our  gratitude  ;  and  we  can  never  too  highly  appre 
ciate  the  services  and  sacrifices  of  Lord  Ashburton  in  his  recent  em 
bassy,  which  has  secured  to  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  a 
treaty  satisfactory  to  all  the  right  minded  of  both  countries. 

Mr.  Baring,  having  served  as  a  member  of  the  house  of  commons 
for  many  years,  and  held  with  honor,  for  a  short  period,  the  chancel 
lorship  of  the  exchequer,  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  in  1835,  a 
proud  testimonial  of  his  distinguished  abilities,  and  a  just  reward  for 
a  life  devoted  to  the  honor  and  best  interests  of  his  country. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  543 

B.  MARSTON. 

BENJAMIN  MARSTON,  Esq.,  son  of  Col.  Benjamin  Marston,  of 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1749.  Be 
came  a  merchant  at  Marblehead,  and  was  a  refugee,  proscribed  in 
1778.  He  closed  his  career  as  a  commissary  in  the  service  of  the 
African  Company  at  Baalam's  Isle,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  1793. 

E.  WINSLOW,  JUN. 

HON.  EDWARD  WINSLOW,  jr.,  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1765;  he  was  compelled  to  take  re 
fuge  in  Boston  in  1775,  and  became  a  colonel  in  the  British  service. 

He  was  afterwards  a  counsellor  and  judge  of  the  superior  court 
of  New  Brunswick,  where  he  died,  at  Fredericton,  in  1815,  aged 
70.  He  and  his  cousin,  Pelham  Winslow,  were  among  the  found 
ers  of  the  "  Old  Colony  Club"  in  1769,  now  the  "Pilgrims'  So 
ciety." 

S.  ROGERS. 

SAMUEL  ROGERS,  merchant  of  Boston,  who  graduated  at  Har 
vard  College  in  1765,  was  proscribed  as  an  absentee,  Sept.  1778, 
and  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  died  June  1,  1804,  aged  57. 

S.  WILLIAMS. 

SETH  WILLIAMS,  Esq.,  of  Taunton,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege  in  1755 — pursued  the  study  of  the  law,  and  was  in  practice 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a  refugee,  and 
died  in  London  previous  to  1791. 

COUNT  DE  GRASSE. 

FRANCOIS  JOSEPH  PAUL,  Count  de  Grasse  Tilly,  born  in  1723, 
made  his  first  appearance  in  the  war  between  England  and  France 
as  the  ally  of  the  North  American  colonies,  in  command  of  the 
frigate  Robuste,  in  the  battle  of  Ouessant,  July,  1778 ;  the  first  se 
rious  act  of  hostility  between  the  two  powers,  and  the  first  step  of 
the  Count  de  Grasse  in  defence  of  American  liberty.  Under  Count 
d'Estaing,  in  command  of  a  squadron,  he  aided  in  taking  the  island 
of  Grenada,  in  1779,  when  the  British  fleet  was  saved  from  total 


544  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

defeat  by  a  calm  at  the  close  of  the  action.  After  three  years  of 
distinguished  services  he  left  Brest  in  1781,  in  command  of  a  fleet 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  sail,  (twenty  of  the  line,)  and  in  thirty -six 
days  fell  in  with  Admiral  Hood,  then  blockading  Martinique,  whose 
superiority  of  sailing  alone  enabled  him  to  escape,  with  severe 
damage  to  four  of  his  ships. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Port  Royal  de  la  Martinique,  he  concerted 
with  the  Marquis  de  Bouille  the  attack  of  Tobago,  the  success 
of  which,  and  its  rapidity  of  execution,  are  well  known. 

His  distinguished  talents  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  America 
gained  her  entire  confidence ;  and  measures  of  co-operation  were 
concerted  between  Generals  Washington  and  Rochambeau  and  the 
French  admiral,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown,  and  virtually  closed  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and 
America.  Count  de  Grasse  was  solicited  for  protection  against  the 
British  fleet  daily  expected  upon  the  coast,  for  a  reinforcement  of 
troops,  for  provisions  "  de  guerteand  de  bouche"  and  for  1,200,000 
francs  for  the  more  pressing  necessities  of  the  French  troops.  To 
all  of  these  demands  he  lent  most  zealous  and  efficient  aid,  and  in 
the  short  space  of  twelve  days  he  collected  all  his  disposable  naval 
force, (without  endangering  St.  Domingo,)  embarked  three  thousand 
four  hundred  troops,  and  by  his  personal  influence,  and  the  actual 
pledge  of  his  estates  in  St.  Domingo  and  France,  raised  the  funds 
desired.  The  expedition  (necessarily  a  secret  one)  arrived  at  the 
capes  of  the  Chesapeake  on  the  28th  August,  the  same  day  that 
Admiral  Hood  appeared  off  New-York  with  fourteen  vessels  of  the 
line.  He  succeeded  in  landing  the  troops,  and  on  the  5th  Septem 
ber  was  prepared  and  engaged  the  British  fleet  until  nightfall, 
when  they  separated.  After  four  days'  vain  search  for  his  oppo 
nents,  he  returned  to  the  capes  in  time  to  intercept  two  frigates, 
the  "  Iris"  and  "  Richmond,"  which  were  leaving  the  bay  with  des 
patches  they  had  been  unable  to  deliver  to  Cornwallis.  The  allied 
armies  (informed  of  the  approach  of  the  French  fleet,  by  the  frig 
ate  "  La  Concorde,"  on  15th  August)  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Elk  on  6th  September,  one  hour  only  after  the  bearer  of  despatches 
from  Count  de  Grasse.  Count  Rochambeau  spoke  of  this  coinci 
dence  as  most  remarkable,  that  a  combined  expedition  of  land  and 
naval  forces,  the  one  from  the  north  of  America  and  the  other  from 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  545 

the  West  Indies,  should  both  arrive  in  the  same  bay  only  one  hour 
apart.  On  the  19th  October,  Lord  Cornwallis  capitulated  to  the 
united  forces  of  France  and  America ;  six  thousand  five  hundred  men 
were  made  prisoners  of  war,  one  hundred  and  sixty  cannon,  twen 
ty-two  flags,  and  forty  transports  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  allies. 

This  expedition  originated  with  Count  deGrasse;  the  plan  was 
matured  by  Washington,  Rochambeau  and  himself  in  concert. 

To  the  activity  of  all  the  commanders  is  mainly  due  this  tran- 
scendant  success,  as  only  eight  days  after  the  capitulation  was 
signed  an  increased  British  naval  force  arrived  off  the  capes  with 
seven  thousand  troops  on  board ;  enough,  in  all  probability,  to 
have  sustained  the  royal  authority  in  the  south. 

Congress  passed  a  resolution  on  the  28th  October,  to  erect  a  mon 
ument  at  Yorktown  in  commemoration  of  this  great  event,  and  also 
the  following  :  "  That  the  thanks  of  the  United  States,  in  Con 
gress  assembled,  be  presented  to  his  excellency  the  Count  de 
Grasse,  for  the  skill  and  valor  he  has  shown  in  attacking  and  beat 
ing  the  British  fleet,  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  for  the  zeal  and  ar 
dor  by  which  he  gave,  by  the  naval  force  under  his  command,  the 
most  effective  and  distinguished  succor  and  protection  to  the  allied 
army  in  Virginia."  Congress  also  presented  him  four  pieces  of 
cannon,  inscribed  as  follows  :  "  Taken  from  the  English  army,  by 
the  combined  forces  of  France  and  America,  at  Yorktown,  Virginia, 
August  19,  1781.  Presented  to  his  Excellency  Count  de  Grasse, 
in  testimony  of  the  inestimable  services  rendered  by  him  on  that 
day." 

The  cannon  remained  at  the  chateau  of  Tilly,  fourteen  leagues 
from  Paris,  until  during  the  French  Revolution  the  property  and  all 
its  dependencies  were  lost  to  the  family. 

On  the  13th  February,  1782,  the  island  of  St.  Christopher  sur 
rendered  to  Count  de  Grasse  and  the  Marquis  de  Bouille. 

In  command  of  the  united  forces  of  France  and  Spain,  in  the 
West  Indies,  the  count  sustained  his  high  naval  reputation,  and  de 
fended  himself  successfully  against  the  English  fleet,  until  the  12th 
April,  when  (his  vessels  having  been  injured  by  contact  with  each 
other,  his  own  ship,  the  "  Ville  de  Paris,"  being  run  afoul  of  by  the 
"  Zelee")  he  was  attacked  by  eleven  of  the  enemy.  His  sails  torn 
and  ships  ungovernable,  his  crews  fasting  and  worn  down  with  the 

69 


546  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

exertions  of  the  previous  nights,  and  without  chance  of  success, 
he  hauled  down  his  flag,  after  combatting  from  eight  A.  M. 
till  six  P.  M.  History  offers  no  example  of  a  longer  or  more  spir 
ited  naval  engagement,  or  a  more  obstinate  resistance.  It  was 
proved  at  a  court  of  inquiry,  that  the  most  important  manoeuvres,  as 
well  as  nine  signals  from  the  admiral,  were  neglected.  Count  de 
Grasse  (which  is  worthy  of  notice)  never  left  the  quarter-deck  dur 
ing  the  action,  nor  received  a  wound  ;  he  had  a  hundred  and  twen 
ty-one  killed  on  board  the  Ville  de  Lyons,  and  a  very  large  number 
wounded. 

Carried  a  prisoner  to  England,  the  hero  became  negotiator,  and 
exerted  himself  with  that  government  to  incline  it  to  peace.  He 
had  the  gratification  of  taking  to  France,  in  August  following, 
verbal  propositions  of  peace  to  the  French  government,  from  Lord 
Shelburne,  first  lord  of  the  treasury.  France  insisted  upon  the  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  as  a  con 
dition  of  the  treaty,  and  the  preliminaries  were  signed  at  Paris  on 
the  30th  November,  1782. 

History  shows  that  the  United  States  are  as  much  indebted  to 
the  unceasing  efforts  of  the  Count  de  Grasse  in  her  favor  after  his 
return  to  Europe,  as  for  his  brilliant  achievements  in  the  Chesapeake 
and  West  Indies.  It  may  be  said  that  his  life  w^as  consecrated  to 
securing  independence  to  the  North  American  colonies  ;  for  its  ac 
complishment  he  employed  all  his  valor,  all  his  talents,  all  his  zeal, 
and  finding  his  task  completed,  and  object  gained,  he  died  on 
the  14th  January,  1788,  in  the  sixty -fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Count  de  Grasse  left  an  only  son,  who  served  with  honor  in  the 
several  grades  of  the  French  army,  and  was  decorated  by  Count 
Rochambeau  at  St.  Domingo  with  the  cross  of  St.  Louis  in  behalf 
of  Louis  XVI.  At  the  massacre  of  Cape  Francois,  he  saved  him 
self  and  family  on  board  an  AmericanVessel,  which  landed  them  in 
complete  destitution  at  Charleston,  where,  with  other  exiles,  they 
experienced  the  hospitality  and  sympathy  of  the  inhabitants. 
Count  de  Grasse  became  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  subse 
quently  returned  to  the  service  of  his  country,  his  attachment  to 
which  was  manifested  in  the  campaigns  of  Italy  and  Spain. 

The  French  Revolution  deprived  him  of  his  estates,  and  he  has 
in  vain  awaited  from  government,  to  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  a 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  547 

recompense  of  his  services.  Should  we  do  more  than  justice  to 
the  memory  of  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  devoted  defenders  of 
our  liberties,  in  sharing  with  him  the  inheritance  acquired  by  the 
united  valor  of  our  fathers  1 

The  only  surviving  daughter  of  the  first  Count  de  Grasse,  is  the 
widow  of  the  late  Francis  Depau,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  one  of  our  most 
enterprising,  opulent,  and  public  spirited  merchants,  to  whom  all 
praise  and  credit  is  due  for  greatly  extending  our  commerce  with 
France,  by  establishing  the  first  line  of  packets  between  New- 
York  and  Havre. 

COL.  EDSON. 

JOSIAH  EDSON,  Esq.,  of  Bridgewater,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege  in  1730,  was  a  representative  in  the  general  assembly  of 
Massachusetts,  from  that  town.  He  was  a  refugee,  and  banished 
by  the  act  of  September,  1778 ;  he  had  been  commissioned  a  man 
damus  counsellor  in  August,  1778,  but  declined  serving ;  he  died 
previous  to  1782. 

W.  VASSALL. 

WILLIAM  VASSALL,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  was  appointed  a  counsellor 
in  1774,  by  writ  of  mandamus,  but  did  not  serve ;  he  was  a  re 
fugee,  and  banished  by  the  act  of  September,  1778.  He  died  in 
Surrey,  England,  in  1800,  aged  eighty -five  ;  he  graduated  at  Har 
vard  College  in  1733. 

JUDGE  HUTCH1NSON. 

HON.  FOSTER  HUTCHINSON,  a  brother  of  Governor  Hutchinson, 
and  one  of  the  last  judges  in  the  supreme  court  of  Massachusetts 
under  the  charter,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in  1771.  He  gra 
duated  at  Harvard  College  in  1743 ;  he  accepted  the  appointment 
of  mandamus  counsellor  in  1774,  and  soon  after  was  compelled  to 
take  refuge  in  Boston,  and  became  an  absentee.  He  was  proscribed 
in  1778,  and  charged  by  the  act  of  1779,  as  a  conspirator  against 
the  liberties  of  his  country  ;  he  died  at  Halifax,  in  May,  1799. 

N.  R.  THOMAS. 

NATHANIEL  RAY  THOMAS,  Esq.,  of  Taunton,  Bristol  county, 
Mass.,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1751 ;  appointed  by 


548  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

writ  of  mandamus  a  counsellor  in  1774,  but  declined  serving.     He 
was  proscribed  in  the  act  of  1778,  and  died  in  Nova  Scotia,  1791. 

PELHAM  W1NSLOW. 

PELHAM  WINSLOW,  Esq.,  an  attorney  of  Plymouth,  Massachu 
setts,  was  a  son  of  General  John  Winslow,  of  Marshfield ;  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1753.  He  was  driven  into  Bos 
ton,  and  was  a  major  in  the  British  service ;  proscribed  by  the  act 
of  1778  -,  and  died  at  Flushing,  Long  Island,  in  1783. 

JUDGE  LEONARD. 

HON.  DANIEL  LEONARD,  of  Norton,  Massachusetts,  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1760  ;  a  member  of  assembly.  He  was  a  dis 
tinguished  political  writer,  and  a  member  of  the  legal  profession. 
In  1774,  he  was  the  antagonist  of  John  Adams,  in  relation  to  "  the 
rights  and  prospects  of  the  coloriies"  under  the  respective  signa 
tures  of  Novanglus  and  Massachusettensis.  He  was  a  refugee  in 
1775,  and  was  proscribed  in  1778  ;  he  was  afterwards  chief  justice 
of  Bermuda,  and  died  in  London,  June  27, 1829,  aged  eighty-nine. 

COL.  SALTONSTALL. 

COL.  RICHARD  SALTONSTALL,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Richard  Salton- 
stall,  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  a  judge  of  the  superior  court  of  that  pro 
vince.  He  was  born,  April  5,  1732,  and  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  with  distinguished  honor,  in  1751.  Colonel  Saltonsall 
entered  into  the  military  service  of  the  province  in  the  French  war, 
in  1756,  and  was  at  Fort  William  Henry,  Lake  George,  at  the 
time  of  the  memorable  capitulation  and  massacre,  August  9,  1757. 
When  the  Indians  fell  upon  the  unarmed  prisoners,  he  escaped, 
and  arrived  a  few  days  afterwards  at  Fort  Edward,  on  the  Hudson, 
nearly  exhausted  by  hunger  and  fatigue.  He  commanded  a  regi 
ment  from  1760  to  the  close  of  the  war.  On  his  return  to  Haver- 
hill,  he  was  appointed  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Essex,  which  office 
he  held  until  he  left  the  country. 

When  the  difficulties  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country  came  on,  Colonel  Saltonstall  was  opposed  to  forcible 
resistance ;  he  believed  that  it  must  be  ineffectual,  and  that  the 
colonies  would  fall  before  the  power  of  Great  Britain.  He  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  549 

greatly  beloved  and  respected ;  he  often  represented  the  town  in 
the  general  court.  It  was  long  before  he  lost  his  popularity,  not 
withstanding  his  opinions ;  but  in  the  autumn  of  1774,  a  great 
number  of  persons  collected  before  his  house,  armed  with  clubs,  etc., 
and  with  threats  of  violence,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  some  friends 
who  were  with  him,  and  who  had  gone  for  the  purpose  of  aiding 
in  his  escape,  he  came  to  the  door  and  addressed  the  excited  as 
sembly  with  great  calmness,  firmness  and  dignity;  reminding  them 
of  his  services  for  his  country,  that  he  had  exposed  his  life  in  its 
defence,  etc.  Seldom  has  a  speech  been  more  effectual ;  it  quelled 
the  excited  passions  of  the  multitude,  and  they  dispersed.  He  was 
soon  after  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Boston,  and  embarked 
for  England,  in  1775. 

Col.  Saltonstall  refused  to  accept  a  commission  in  the  British 
army,  saying,  that  if  he  could  not  conscientiously  engage  on  the 
side  of  his  country,  he  would  not  take  up  arms  against  her.  His 
reputation  as  an  officer  was  high,  and  it  is  supposed  that  he  might 
have  had  an  important  command  in  the  American  army,  if  he  had 
embraced  the  popular  cause. 

Col.  Saltonstall  was  proscribed  by  the  law  of  1778,  and  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  England.  In  one  of  his  letters,  written 
soon  after  the  peace,  he  expressed  great  affection  for  the  delightful 
place  of  his  nativity  ;  but  he  added, — "  I  have  no  remorse  of  con 
science  for  my  past  conduct.  I  have  had  more  satisfaction  in  a 
private  life  here,  than  I  should  have  had  in  being  next  in  command 
to  General  Washington,  where  I  must  have  acted  in  conformity  to 
the  dictates  of  others,  regardless  of  my  own  feelings."  Colonel 
Saltonstall  resided  on  the  beautiful  family  estate  in  Haverhill, 
known  as  "  the  Saltonstall  place,"  where  he  lived  in  a  style  of 
liberal  hospitality,  sustaining  the  character  of  a  truly  upright  and 
honorable  man,  and  an  accomplished  gentleman  j  he  was  never 
married. 

He  was  kindly  received  by  his  remote  family  connections  in 
England ;  and  his  friends  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory  at 
Kensington,  with  the  following  inscription  : 

"  Near  this  place  are  interred  the  remains  of  RICHARD  SALTON 
STALL,  Esq.,  who  died  October  1,  1785,  aged  fifty-two.  He  was 
an  American  loyalist,  from  Haverhill  in  the  Massachusetts ;  where 


550  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

he  was  descended  from  a  first  family,  both  for  the  principal  share 
it  had  in  the  early  erecting,  as  well  as  in  rank  and  authority  in 
governing  that  province.  And  wherein  he  himself  sustained,  with 
unshaken  loyalty  and  universal  applause,  various  important  trusts 
and  commands  under  the  crown,  both  civil  and  military,  from  his 
youth  till  its  revolt ;  and  throughout  life  maintained  such  an  amia 
ble  private  character,  as  engaged  him  the  esteem  and  regard  of 
many  friends. 

"  As  a  memorial  of  his  merits,  this  stone  is  erected." 
Col.  Saltonstall  was  a  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation  from 
Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  one  of  the  patentees  of  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  and  who  arrived  at  Salem,  in  the  Arabella, 
(or  Arbella,)  June  12,  1630,  with  Governor  Winthrop  and  their 
associates,  "  bringing  out  the  charter  with  them."  He  was  also 
a  patentee  of  Connecticut,  and  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
principal  founders  of  both  colonies.  A  memoir  of  this  family  may 
be  found  in  the  publications  of  the  Mass.  Historical  Society. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Saltonstall,  brother  of  Colonel  Saltonstall,  was  a 
decided  whig  of  the  Revolution.  The  Hon.  Leverett  Saltonstall, 
of  Salem,  an  able  and  eloquent  representative,  now  in  congress 
from  Massachusetts,  is  his  son. 

N.  CHANDLER. 

NATHANIEL  CHANDLER,  son  of  Col.  John  Chandler  of  Worcester, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1768,  was  a  practising  attorney 
at  Petersham,  when  the  troubles  commenced,  and  was  compelled 
on  account  of  his  principles  to  take  refuge  in  Boston.  He  was 
proscribed  in  1778.  Had  for  a  while  led  a  corps  of  volunteers  in 
the  British  service  at  New-York.  He  afterwards  went  to  Eng 
land,  returned,  and  died  at  Worcester,  1801,  aged  fifty-one. 

DR.  B.  S.  OLIVER. 

BRINLEY  SYLVESTER  OLIVER,  M.  D.,  fourth  son  of  Lieut.  Governor 
Andrew  Oliver,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1774,  studied 
medicine  and  surgery,  and  was  afterwards  a  surgeon  in  the  British 
service. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  55 1 

DR.  PAINE. 

WILLIAM  PAINE,  M.  D.,  son  of  Timothy  Paine,  Esq.,  of  Wor 
cester,  Mass.,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1768.  He  was 
practising  professionally  at  Worcester  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution ;  was  a  refugee,  and  proscribed  in  1778.  Became  an 
apothecary  to  the  British  forces  in  Rhode  Island  and  New-York. 
At  the  peace  he  settled  at  New  Brunswick,  and  was  a  represent 
ative  for  Charlotte  county.  He  removed  to  Salem,  Mass.,  where 
he  practised  from  1787  to  1793,  with  success  in  his  profession.  The 
death  of  his  father  caused  him  to  return  to  Worcester,  where  he 
closed  his  checkered  life,  on  the  18th  April,  1833,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three. 

WM.  CHANDLER. 

WTILLIAM  CHANDLER,  Esq.,  youngest  son  of  Col.  John  Chandler, 
of  Worcester,  Mass.,  was  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Boston,  and 
was  proscribed  in  1778.  He  returned  after  peace  was  restored, 
and  died  in  his  native  place,  July,  1793,  aged  forty.  Mr.  Chandler 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1772. 

CHARLES  CURTIS. 

CHARLES  CURTIS,  of  Scituate,  Mass.,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  1765.  Driven  into  Boston,  he  was  proscribed  in  1778,  and 
died  in  New-York,  previous  to  1832. 

DR.  P.  OLIVER. 

PETER  OLIVER,  Jr.,  second  son  of  the  chief  justice  of  the  same 
name,  both  of  Middleborough,  Plymouth  county,  Mass. ;  the  former 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1761.  He  had  practised  in  Scit 
uate  in  early  life  ;  was  driven  into  Boston,  and  in  consequence 
became  a  refugee  in  England,  where  he  died,  at  Shrewsbury,  in 
Sept.  1822,  aged  eighty-one. 

REV.  M.  BADGER. 

REV.  MOSES  BADGER,  of  Haverhill,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  1761 ;  was  a  refugee,  proscribed  by  the  act  of  Sept.  1778.  Af- 
ter  the  peace  he  returned,  and  was  rector  of  King's  Chapel,  Provi 
dence,  Rhode  Island,  where  he  died,  Sept.  19,  1792. 


552  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

J.  D.  ROGERS. 

JEREMIAH  DUMMER  ROGERS,  Esq.,  an  attorney  at  law  of  Little 
ton,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1762.  He  was  a  refugee,  pro 
scribed  in  1778,  and  died  at  Halifax,  1784. 

T.  A.  COFFIN. 

THOMAS  ASTON  COFFIN,  Esq.,  son  of  William  Coffin,  of  Boston, 
and  cousin  of  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  remained  in  Boston  after  the  siege, 
and  was  proscribed  in  1778.  He  was  private  secretary  to  Gen. 
Carleton,  and  in  1784  was  appointed  commissary-general  to  the 
British  troops  at  Quebec.  He  died  in  London,  May  3d,  1810, 
aged  fifty-six.  Mr.  Coffin  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1772. 

REV.  B.  LOVELL. 

REV.  BENJAMIN  LOVELL,  youngest  son  of  the  grammar  school 
master  at  Boston,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1774.  He 
became  a  refugee,  first  to  Halifax,  where  he  married,  and  after 
wards  to  England.  Mr.  Lovell  took  orders,  and  was  settled  at 
Ashe,  Surrey,  where  he  died,  March  14,  1828,  aged  seventy-three. 

J.  PUTNAM,  JR. 

JAMES  PUTNAM,  Jr.,  Esq.,  son  of  Hon.  James  Putnam  of  Wor 
cester,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1774 ;  was  a  refugee  in 
1775;  became  barrack-master,  and  subsequently  one  of  the  house 
hold  of  the  late  Duke  of  Kent ;  of  whose  will  he  was  executor. 
He  died  in  London,  March,  1838. 

GOV.  FRANKLIN. 

HON.  WILLIAM  FRANKLIN,  born  in  1731,  a  natural  son  of  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Franklin,  was  the  last  of  the  royal  governors  of 
New  Jersey,  and  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  persons  in  opposition 
to  the  principles  of  the  Revolution.  Although  born  upon  the 
American  soil,  he  was  from  feeling  and  principle  a  loyalist ;  and 
his  firm  adherence  to  government,  under  the  most  adverse  circum 
stances,  and  with  all  the  influence  of  his  father's  example  to  con 
tend  against,  as  well  as  his  disapprobation  of  the  course  he  took, 
showed  a  self-sacrifice  seldom  equalled,  and  renders  him  well 
worthy  of  notice,  while  his  sufferings  entitle  him  to  our  sympathy. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  553 

f 

Of  his  early  history  very  little  is  known ;  he  was  a  captain  in 
the  army  during  the  French  war,  and  served  with  credit  at  Ticon- 
deroga.  He  afterwards  accompanied  his  father  to  England,  where 
he  appears  to  have  been  received  with  distinction.  He  was 
honored  by  the  university  of  Cambridge  with  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts,  and  we  find  him  enjoying  the  intimacy  and  confidence  of 
the  Earl  of  Bute,  on  whose  recommendation  Lord  Halifax  appointed 
him,  in  1763,  the  governor  of  New-Jersey. 

Governor  Franklin  seems  to  have  studied  the  best  interests  of 
his  province,  and  for  some  time  enjoyed  considerable  popularity, 
but  he  did  not  possess  the  good  fortune  to  retain  it.  In  the  first 
dispute  which  occurred  between  him  and  the  assembly,  in  relation 
to  the  removal  of  a  defaulting  treasurer,  he  manifested  a  useless 
obstinacy,  in  opposition  to  their  wishes,  which  served  to  deprive 
him  of  their  confidence,  and  to  prevent  any  influence  which  he 
might  otherwise  have  exerted  in  opposition  to  the  Revolution.  He 
also  gave  offence  by  showing,  in  all  contests  between  the  mother 
country  and  her  colonies,  that  he  remained  faithful  to  his  principles ; 
for  he  steadily  advocated  the  claims  of  government,  and  in  answer 
to  the  strong  remonstrances  of  the  assembly  he  invariably  aimed 
to  show  them  that  their  situation  was  much  to  be  preferred  to  the 
uncertain  results  of  a  revolution.  At  length  the  current  of  opinion 
became  strong  against  him,  and  he  found  that  his  exertions  served 
only  to  excite  a  more  determined  opposition.  He  labored  assidu 
ously  to  prevent  the  formation  of  an  independent  provincial  govern 
ment  and  the  union  of  the  colonies,  and  afforded  encouragement 
and  protection  to  the  most  violent  opponents  of  the  Revolution. 
But  what  gave  the  greatest  offence  was  his  proclamation  calling 
together  the  royal  assembly,  in  .order  to  oppose  their  action  to  that 
of  the  provincial  congress.  This  measure  alarmed  the  latter  body, 
and  they  at  once  resolved  that  his  proclamation  ought  not  to  be 
obeyed,  that  he  had  acted  in  violation  of  their  resolves,  and  had 
proved  himself  an  enemy  to  the  liberties  of  his  country ;  that  mea 
sures  should  be  taken  to  secure  his  person,  and  that  all  payments 
of  salary  to  him  should  cease.  He  was  then  arrested  by  order  of 
the  convention,  and  on  his  refusal  to  sign  a  parole,  detained  in  close 
custody.  In  the  mean  time  an  application  had  been  made  to  the 
continental  congress  for  advice  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued, 

70 


554  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

suggesting  that  it  would  be  more  safe  to  confine  him  in  some  other 
state  than  New-Jersey ;  and  that  body  recommended  that,  after  an 
examination,  he  should  be  transferred  to  the  custody  of  the  gover 
nor  of  Connecticut.  He  was  accordingly  brought  before  the  con 
vention  for  examination,  but  his  firmness  did  not  desert  him,  and  he 
steadily  refused  to  answer  any  questions,  denying  the  authority  of 
that  body,  which  he  asserted  had  usurped  the  government.  He 
was  then  sent  to  Connecticut,  and  after  a  confinement  at  Middle- 
town  of  nearly  two  years,  was  liberated  in  exchange  for  an  Ameri 
can  general  officer,  when  he  retired  to  England,  on  a  pension, 
which  was  continued  during  life.  He  died  on  the  17th  November, 
1813,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

Gov.  Franklin,  though  wanting  the  genius  of  his  father,  was  a 
man  of  talents,  firmness,  and  integrity.  That  his  conduct  was  the 
result  of  sincere  convictions  cannot  be  doubted.  He  had  been 
raised  to  his  dignified  station  without  any  solicitation  on  his  part, 
or  on  the  part  of  his  father,  and  it  is  probable  that  a  feeling  of  gra 
titude  may  have  held  him  more  steadily  in  his  course.  It  is  evident 
that  he  sacrificed  much  in  acting  as  he  did,  if  it  were  only  the 
friendly  intercourse  with  his  parent,  who  had  previously  bestowed 
upon  him  much  of  his  confidence  and  affection.  The  letters  be 
tween  them  had  been  frequent,  but  when  the  course  of  the  gover 
nor  became  manifest,  their  intercourse  entirely  ceased.  The  last  of 
the  doctor's  letters  was  in  January,  1774,  and  he  had  no  further 
communication  with  his  son  till  after  the  peace,  when  the  latter,  in 
1784,  wrote  to  his  father,  proposing  a  reconciliation.  The  doctor 
remarks  in  his  answer,  that  nothing  had  ever  caused  him  so  much 
pain  as  "  to  find  himself  deserted,  in  his  old  age,  by  his  only  son :" 
he  finds  for  him,  however,  an  excuse  in  his  situation,  but  remarks 
that  "  there  are  natural  duties  which  precede  political  ones,  and 
cannot  be  extinguished  by  them."  The  intercourse  thus  recom 
menced  continued,  probably,  till  the  death  of  the  illustrious  philoso 
pher  and  statesman. 

Gov.  Franklin  was  twice  married,  and  left,  at  his  death,  one 
son,  William  Temple  Franklin,  editor  of  the  works  of  his  grand 
father,  who  died  in  Paris,  May  25,  1823. 

Gov.  Franklin  caused  a  monumental  tablet  to  be  placed  in  the 
chancel  of  St.  Paul's  church,  New- York,  with  the  following  inscrip 
tion: 


BIOGRAPHICAL  -NOTICES.  555 

"  Beneath  the  altar  of  this  church  are  deposited  the  remains  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Franklin,  wife  of  his  Excellency  William  Franklin, 
late  governor,  under  his  Britannic  Majesty,  of  the  province  of  New- 
Jersey.  Compelled  to  part  from  the  husband  she  loved,  and  at 
length  despairing  of  the  soothing  hope  of  his  speedy  return,  she 
sunk  under  accumulated  distresses,  and  departed  this  life  28th  July, 
1778,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  her  age. 

Sincerity  and  sensibility, 
Politeness  and  affability, 
Godliness  and  charity, 

were,  with  sense  refined  and  person  elegant,  in  her  united. 

From  a  grateful  remembrance  of  her  affectionate  tenderness  and 

constant  performance  of  all  the  duties  of  a  good  wife, 

this  monument  is  erected,  in  the  year  1787, 

by  one  who  knows  her  worth, 

and  still  laments  her  loss." 

I.  WILKINS,  D.  D. 

ISAAC  WILKINS,  of  Westchester,  New-York,  son  of  Martin 
Wilkins,  Esq.,  who  in  infancy,  at  the  decease  of  his  father,  an  opu 
lent  planter,  and  an  eminent  man  of  the  island  of  Jamaica,  wras 
brought  to  the  province,  and  received  the  best  education  the  coun 
try  afforded.  The  former  married  Isabella  Morris,  a  sister  of  that 
eloquent  patriot  and  statesman,  Gouverneur  Morris.*  Mr.  Wilkins 
first  prepared  himself  for  the  church,  but  did  not  take  orders.  As  a 
member  of  the  provincial  assembly,  he  was  subsequently  distin 
guished  for  loyalist  principles,  and  his  eloquence  and  integrity  ac 
quired  for  him  an  influence  rarely  attained,  and  which  for  a  consid 
erable  time  prevented  the  prostration  of  the  colonial  government. 

The  following  extract  from  his  speech  on  the  resolutions  for 
adopting  the  measures  recommended  by  congress,  shows  the  interest 
he  felt  in  the  subject : 

"  We  have  before  us  the  choice  of  peace  or  war,  of  happiness 
or  misery,  of  freedom  or  slavery ;  and  can  we  hesitate  which  to 
choose  ?  By  proceeding  in  a  firm,  but  loyal  and  constitutional 

*  Another  brother,  Sir  Staats  L.  Morris,  K.  C.  B.,  who  entered  the  British 
army  in  early  life,  attained  the  rank  of  lieut.  general,  and  married  the  duch 
ess  of  Gordon. 


556  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

manner,  in  the  settlement  of  this  unhappy  difference  with  our 
mother  country,  we  cannot  fail,  I  am  convinced,  of  meeting  with 
success,  of  securing  to  ourselves  a  free  constitution,  and  of  a  restor 
ation  to  the  favor  and  protection  of  the  parent  state,  which,  next  to 
the  favor  of  heaven,  will  be  our  best  and  strongest  safeguard  and 
security.  This  is  the  critical  moment  of  our  fate ;  we  have  it  now 
in  our  power  to  do  the  most  essential  good  or  mischief  to  ourselves 
and  our  posterity.  If  we  neglect  this  opportunity  of  promoting 
our  common  felicity,  and  of  establishing  our  liberties  on  a  firm  and 
lasting  basis,  we  may  perhaps  never  have  another,  and  shall  repent 
of  our  fatal  infatuation  and  folly  when  too  late  to  retrieve  the  mis 
take  ;  when  the  horrors  of  civil  war  shall  be  increased  by  the 
curses  of  our  wretched  and  deluded  constituents,  who,  in  the  bitter 
ness  of  their  hearts,  shall  point  us  out  as  the  authors  of  their  ruin, 
and  when  we  shall  be  obliged  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  conquest, 
or  the  penalties  of  rebellion.  I  have  shown  that  the  rise  of  this 
dispute  with  Great  Britain  has  been  an  unreasonable  jealousy  on 
our  part,  originating  from  an  impolitic  exertion  of  authority  on 
hers ;  and  that  it  is  our  interest,  as  well  as  duty,  to  cultivate  the 
closest  union  with  her.  I  have  shown  that  by  a  peaceful  conduct 
we  may  procure  for  ourselves,  and  perhaps  for  our  sister  colonies, 
a  more  perfect  system  of  government  than  that  we  have  hitherto 
enjoyed,  which  was  indeed  better  calculated  for  our  infant  state 
than  for  the  present  period  of  our  maturity ;  a  period  that  requires, 
however  paradoxical  it  may  seem,  more  liberty  and  a  stricter  gov 
ernment.  I  will  only  add,  that  if  contrary  to  my  most  ardent 
wishes,  contrary  to  the  dignity  of  this  house,  to  the  dictates  of  hu 
manity,  and  our  duty  to  our  constituents  and  country,  you  adopt  the 
measures  of  congress,  and  by  that  means  involve  our  country  in  a 
civil  war,  that  most  dreadful  of  calamities,  I  declare  my  honest  in 
dignation  against  your  course,  and  call  heaven  to  witness  I  am 
guiltless  of  the  blood  of  my  fellow  subjects  that  will  be  shed  on  the 
occasion — I  am  guiltless  of  the  ruin  of  my  country." 

About  the  1st  of  May,  1775,  Mr.  Wilkins  was  compelled  to 
abandon  his  family  and  country,  and  embarked  for  England, 
after  taking  the  following  leave  of  his  countrymen,  which  appeared 
in  Rivington's  Gazette,  of  May  3,  1775 : 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES.  557 

"  MY  COUNTRYMEN  : 

"  Before  I  leave  America,  the  land  I  love,  and  in  which  is  con 
tained  every  thing  that  is  valuable  and  dear  to  me,  my  wife,  chil 
dren,  friends,  and  property,  permit  me  to  make  a  short  and  faithful 
declaration,  which  I  am  induced  to  do,  neither  through  fear,  nor  a 
consciousness  of  having  acted  wrong.  An  honest  man  and  a  Chris 
tian  hath  nothing  to  apprehend  from  this  world.  God  is  my  judge 
and  witness,  that  all  I  have  done,  written,  or  said,  in  relation  to  the 
present  unnatural  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
proceeded  from  the  honest  intention  of  serving  my  country.  Her 
welfare  and  prosperity  were  the  objects  towards  which  all  my  en 
deavors  have  been  directed.  They  still  are  the  sacred  objects  which 
I  shall  ever  steadily  and  invariably  keep  in  view,  and  when  in 
England,  all  the  influence  that  so  inconsiderable  a  man  as  I  am  can 
have,  shall  be  exerted  in  her  behalf. 

"  It  has  been  my  constant  maxim  through  life  to  do  my  duty 
conscientiously,  and  to  trust  the  issue  of  my  actions  to  the  Al 
mighty.  May  He,  in  whose  hands  are  all  events,  speedily  restore 
peace  and  liberty  to  my  unhappy  country ;  may  Great  Britain  and 
America  be  soon  united  in  the  bands  of  everlasting  amity,  and 
when  united,  may  they  continue  a  free,  virtuous,  and  happy  nation, 
to  the  end  of  time. 

"  I  leave  America  and  every  endearing  connection,  because  I 
will  not  raise  my  hand  in  opposition  to  my  sovereign,  nor  will  I 
draw  my  sword  against  my  country ;  when  I  can  conscientiously 
draw  it  in  her  favor,  my  life  shall  be  cheerfully  devoted  to  her 
service.  "  ISAAC  WILKINS." 

Bishop  Seabury  wrote  Mr.  Wilkins  on  the  30th  of  May,  1775, 
that  Drs.  Cooper  and  Chandler  had  sailed  from  New-York  the  pre 
vious  week  for  England. 

Mr.  Samuel  Bayard,  jr.,  wrote  Mr.  Wilkins  in  London,  dated 
New-York,  6th  June,  1775,  "  that  the  few  soldiers  wrho  were  here 
embarked  on  board  the  Asia  yesterday ;  their  baggage  was  stopped 
by  some  of  our  inhabitants,  and  one  or  two  soldiers  deserted.  Stop 
ping  the  baggage  is  said  to  have  been  contrary  to  the  sentiments 
of  most  people  here.  We  are,  however,  very  quiet.  The  military 
made  no  resistance,  as  the  officers  were  afraid  of  greater  desertions 


*» 

558  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

if  the  soldiers  remained  in  the  streets."  On  the  5th  July  he  writes  as 
follows :  "  Wooster's  camp  I  suppose  you  know  is  within  two  miles 
of  us — it  is  in  a  field  adjoining  the  sand-hill,  and  on  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  new  road  which  runs  through  N.  Bayard's  land,  so  that 
this  road  is  on  the  east  side,  and  the  road  over  the  sand-hill  on  the 
north  side  of  the  camp.  The  number  is  said  to  be  fourteen  hundred. 
These  are  a  part  of  the  five  thousand  which  the  continental  con 
gress  have  directed  to  be  kept  in  this  province.  We  have  for  ten 
days  past  received  contradictory  accounts  of  an  action  between 
Gen.  Gage  and  the  provincials,  which  happened  on  the  17th  June. 
No  account  from  Gen.  Gage  yet.  Surely,  if  those  who  now  direct 
affairs  had  a  real  love  of  the  country  at  heart,  they  would  use  every 
means  to  obtain  their  desires  before  they  involved  us  in  the  horrors 
of  war.  If  influenced  by  laudable  motives,  their  measures  appear 
to  be  the  effect  of  infatuation ;  the  uncertainty  of  what  this  may 
urge  them  to  is  such,  that  when  I  go  to  bed  I  know  not  whether  I 
may  not  be  waked  by  the  noise  of  cannon  battering  the  town,  as 
there  is  the  Asia  of  sixty  guns  lying  just  opposite  my  bed." 

On  the  13th  of  July  he  further  writes  as  follows  :  "  Yesterday 
some  of  our  Connecticut  troops  seized  the  cutter  of  the  Asia,  with 
eight  or  ten  men,  who  came  on  shore  to  bring  a  sick  man.  They 
hauled  the  boat  into  the  street,  (the  men  belonging  to  her  sitting 
in,  huzzaing  and  calling  them  their  horses ;)  come  time  after  they 
put  the  boat  in  the  water  and  set  fire  to  her.  I  hear  Gen.  Wooster 
has  wrote  a  polite  letter  to  Capt.  Vandeput,  assuring  him  that  this 
outrage  was  without  his  knowledge,  and  contrary  to  his  wishes.  It 
is  said  the  boat  will  be  paid  for."  August  2,  he  also  writes  thus : 
"  Although  we  are  but  looked  upon  as  enemies  to  the  liberty  of 
our  country,  yet  I  can  answer  for  you,  as  I  believe  you  can  for  me, 
that  we  as  sincerely  wish  her  every  blessing  and  the  enjoyment  of 
every  liberty  which  the  nature  of  civil  government  can  admit,  as 
the  loudest  of  those  who  at  this  time  are  in  opposition  to  govern 
ment  ;  and  I  am  convinced  you  will  use  all  your  influence  and 
abilities  to  promote  the  good  of  your  country  ;  which  I  hope  our 
infatuated  countrymen  will  one  day  be  convinced  of  and  acknow 
ledge." 

Mr.  Wilkins  returned  to  Long  Island  in  1776,  then  under  con 
trol  of  the  British,  where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  559 

While  in  England,  Mr.  Wilkins  recommended  to  Lord  North 
terms  on  which  the  breach  could  be  healed,  but  they  were  not 
heeded. 

On  the  4th  of  Feb.,  1777,  from  Oxford,  Dr.  Cooper,  form 
erly  president  of  King's  College,  New-York,  \yrote  to  Mr.  Wil 
kins,  at  Long  Island,  as  follows:  "I  have  heard  of  your  sufferings 
with  much  pain,  though  I  own  without  surprise  ;  you  may  remem 
ber  I  tried  to  dissuade  you  from  going  so  soon  on  that  very  account. 
But  that  *  *  *  *  *  *  should  have  been  the  very  instrument  of 
this  wickedness,  is  far  more  than  I  could  have  supposed,  and  I 
heartily  pray,  (with  a  safe  conscience,  too,)  that  he  may  have  an 
ample  and  speedy  reward.  The  same  good  wishes  attend  all  the 
laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  Satan,  wheresoever  dispersed." 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Wilkins  was,  by  the  terms 
of  the  banishment  act,  compelled  to  leave  the  republic,  and 
he  repaired  to  Shelburne,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  remained  several 
years,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Lunenburgh,  in  the  same  pro 
vince.  He  obtained  leave  to  return  to  his  native  land  previous  to 
1803,  and  having  taken  orders,  was  settled  over  the  parish  of 
WTest  Chester,  where  he  continued  highly  esteemed  for  lofty  prin 
ciple,  ever  exhibited  through  a  protracted  and  checkered  life,  which 
closed  soon  after  penning  the  following  epitaph  : 


To  the  memory  of 
THE  REV.  ISAAC  WILKINS,  D.  D. 

who  for  31  years  was  the 
diligent  and  faithful  minister  of 

this  parish, 
placed  here,  as  he  believed,  by  his  Redeemer. 

He  remained  satisfied  with  the 

pittance  allowed  him,  rejoicing  that  even  in  that 

he  was  no  burden  to  his 

parishioners  : 

nor  ever  wished  nor  ever  went  forth 
to  seek  a  better  living. 

Mr.  Wilkins  died  5th  February,  1830,  aged  eighty-nine  years. 


560  BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES. 

EEV.  IVORY  HOVEY.* 

REV.  IVORY  HOVEY  was  born  at  Topsfield,  near  Salem,  Mass., 
on  the  3d  of  July,  0.  S.  1714.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1735,  in  the  class  of  Mr.  Curwen.  He  studied  theology,  and 
was  settled  at  Matapoiset,  a  parish  of  Rochester,  Massachusetts,  in 
1740.  He  left  that  place  in  1765,  and  was  soon  after  resettled  in 
a  parish  of  Plymouth,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  an  unusu 
ally  long  and  useful  life.  He  married  in  1739,  Olive,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Samuel  Jordan,  of  Biddeford,  Maine,  who  survived  him  a 
few  months.  Mr.  Hovey  was  able  to  continue  his  ministerial  la 
bors  till  a  few  days  before  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  4th 
of  November,  1803,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  It  is  remarked 
by  Dr.  Alden,  (from  whose  Collection  these  particulars  are  obtained,) 
that  for  some  time  before  his  decease,  Mr.  Hovey  "  was  but  the 
third  among  the  living  of  his  alma  mater."  He  probably  outlived 
all  of  his  classmates,  although  he  survived  Mr.  Curwen  by 
only  eighteen  months. 

For  sixty-five  years  before  his  death,  says  Alden,  Mr.  Hovey 
kept  a  journal,  in  which  those  things  designed  for  his  own  partic 
ular  use  were  penned  in  a  short  hand,  as  is  said,  of  his  own  inven 
tion.  This  journal,  closely  written,  amounts  to  the  astonishing 
number  of  seven  thousand  octavo  pages.  The  same  author  pub 
lishes  an  excellent  letter  of  great  length,  addressed  by  Mr.  Hovey 
to  a  young  candidate  for  the  ministry,  written  twelve  days  only 
before  his  death. 

*  See  above,  page  418,  where  it  is  mentioned  as  uncertain  whether  this 
classmate  of  Mr.  Curwen  was  living  in  1795.  The  present  notice  of  Mr. 
Hovey  has  been  prepared  since  that  part  of  the  work  was  printed. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  561 

SAMUEL  QUINCY. 

[The  following  additional  particulars  and  documents  relating 
to  this  unfortunate  gentleman  are  derived  from  original  papers, 
of  which  copies  have  been  made  and  forwarded  to  us  since  the 
preceding  notice  of  him  was  in  type.  Aside  from  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  communicated  by  a  lady,  (Miss  ELIZA  S.  QUINCY,  jr., 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,)  these  documents  possess  too  deep 
an  interest  to  be  withheld  from  the  public,  although  their  publica 
tion  renders  the  article  more  voluminous  than  is  strictly  consistent 
with  the  plan  of  this  work.] 

MR.  QUINCY  was  born  in  that  part  of  Braintree  now  Quincy, 
Massachusetts,  April  13,  1735.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Josiah 
Quincy,  who  at  that  time  resided  on  the  estate  of  his  ancestor  in 
that  town,  and  who  afterwards  removed  to  Boston,  and  became  an 
eminent  merchant  of  that  place.  His  mother's  name  was  Hannah 
Sturgis,  daughter  of  John  Sturgis,  Esq.  of  Yarmouth,  Massachusetts. 
She  died  in  Boston,  August,  1755,  aged  43,  leaving  three  sons  and 
one  daughter.  She  \vas  an  excellent  and  religious  woman,  and  had 
received  the  best  education  the  country  at  that  time  afforded.  Her 
children  honored  her  memory,  and  the  eminence  and  usefulness  of 
their  lives  and  characters  bore  testimony  to  the  virtuous  principles 
she  had  early  instilled. 

Endowed  with  fine  talents,  Mr.  Quincy  became  eminent  in  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and  succeeded  Jonathan  Sewall  as  solicitor- 
general  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  also  distinguished  for  his  know 
ledge  and  attainments  in  general  literature,  and  as  the  author  of 
numerous  fugitive  essays  in  prose  and  verse,  that  appeared  in  the 
journals  of  the  day.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  that  period,  and  an  early  correspond 
ent  of  John  Adams. 

In  early  life  he  appears  to  have  coincided  in  his  political 
course  and  opinions  with  his  brothers.  During  the  .movements 
preceding  the  Revolution,  his  name  appears  on  the  records  of  the 
town  of  Boston,  associated  with  that  of  Josiah  Quincy,  jr.  From 
the  letter  written  by  him  to  his  brother,  so  ardent  a  patriot,  on 
receiving  a  copy  of  his  "  Observations  on  the  Boston  Port  Bill," 

71 


562  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

it  appears  that  their  affection  for  each  other  remained  unal 
tered.* 

The  feelings  of  his  father  and  family,  who  were  all  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  freedom  and  independence,  were  undoubtedly  deeply 
wounded  by  the  course  Samuel  Quincy  pursued,  as  a  letter  of  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  evinces.  But  they  always  continued  to  take 
an  affectionate  interest  in  his  fate  and  fortunes ;  and  the  want  of 
letters  from  his  father  and  friends,  to  which  he  alludes  in  his 
letters  from  London,  undoubtedly  arose  from  the  difficulties  of 
transmitting  letters  to  London  at  that  troubled  period.  His  father 
was  then  advanced  in  life,  and  lived  in  retirement  at  Braintree  on 
his  paternal  estate. 

The  following  impassioned  letter  was  written  to  Mr.  Quincy  by 
his  sister,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  when  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Eng 
land  : 

TO  SAMUEL  QUINCY. 

•  Braintree,  May  11,  1775. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER  : 

I  write  this  in  hopes  to  put  it  into  the  letter  my  father  has  just 
written.  If  it  should  reach  you,  it  may  serve  to  convince  you  that 
I  have  not  forgotten  that  you  are  my  only  brother.  He  must  judge 
what  I  feel,  when  I  tell  him  that  I  fear  I  shall  never  see  him  again. 

Our  two  departed  brothers  died  upon  the  seas.  You  perhaps 
will  say  your  body  is  sound ;  it  may  be  so,  but  the  sick  in  mind 
call  for  more  than  Esculapian  aid. 

If  any  thing  could  surprise  me  now,  the  hearing  of  your  going 
home  would  ;  but  of  late  every  thing  that  is  marvellous  and  strange 
is  to  be  expected.  I  have  not  time  to  enlarge  upon  the  compli 
cated  distresses  of  our  country,  of  families,  or  of  individuals,  but 
shall  briefly  say  that  our  connections  have  experienced  such  a  se 
ries  of  melancholy  events  as  are  not  to  be  paralleled.  We,  my 
brother,  I  hope,  can  sympathize  in  sorrowing  for  the  loss  of  a  bro 
ther,  whose  character  was,  as  far  as  any  man's  of  his  age  ever  was, 
unimpeachable. 

In  his  labors  for  the  salvation  of  his  country,  he  was  indefati- 

*  See  Memoir  of  J.  Quincy,  jr.,  by  his  son  President  Quincy,  p.  1GO. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  563 

gable.  His  death,  I  hope,  will  prove  a  warning  to  others — not  to 
pursue  too  eagerly  any  point.  Nature  kept  upon  the  stretch  will 
give  way.  He  did  not  sufficiently  consider  the  tenderness  of  his 
frame,  and  it  may  truly  be  said  he  fell  a  martyr  in  the  cause  of 
liberty. 

In  the  monody  on  our  eldest  brother  I  find  the  following  lines  ; 
they  may  with  equal  propriety  be  applied  to  the  younger : 

"  That  heart  which  late,  inflamed  with  patriot  zeal,          fp 
Braved  the  bold  insults  of  its  country's  foe, 
No  more  its  pious  frenzy  can  reveal, 
Nor  e'er  in  Freedom's  cause  again  shall  glow." 

Let  it  not  be  told  in  America,  and  let  it  not  be  published  in 
Great  Britain,  that  a  brother  of  such  brothers  fled  from  his  coun 
try — the  wife  of  his  youth — the  children  of  his  affection — and  from 
his  aged  sire,  already  bowed  down  with  the  loss  of  two  sons,  and 
by  that  of  many  more  dear,  though  not  so  near  connections,  to  se 
cure  himself  from  the  reproaches  of  his  injured  countrymen,  and  to 
cover  such  a  retreat,  obliged  to  enlist  as  a  sycophant  under  an  ob 
noxious  Hutchinson,  who  is  a  tool  under  a  cruel  North,  and  by 
them  to  be  veered  about,  and  at  last  to  be  blown  aside  with  a  cool 
"  to-morrow,  sir." 

"Refusal,  canst  thou  wear  a  smoother  form  ?" 

\ 

My  blood  chills  at  the  thought  of  the  meanness  of  a  seeker,, 
and  flames  with  indignation  at  such  treatment  from  those  in  power. 
Arouse  from  your  lethargy — let  reason  take  the  helm — disregard 
all  greatness  but  greatness  of  soul ; — then  the  little  trappings  that 
royalty  can  confer  will  lose  their  lustre,  that  false  lustre  which  I 
fear  inclines  you  to  the  prerogative  side.  Spare  me,  and  do  not 
call  what  I  have  written  impertinent,  but  ascribe  it  to  the  anxiety 
of  a  sister,  really  distressed  for  thee.  I  behold  you  leaving  your 
country,  "  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,"  and  in  which,  as 
yet,  iniquity  of  all  kinds  is  punished,  and  its  religion  as  yet  free 
from  idolatry,  (how  long  it  will  continue  so  God  only  knows — we 
have  reason  to  fear  a  depredation  on  our  religious  system  next,} 
for  a  country  where  evil  works  are  committed  with  impunity.  Can 


564  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

you  expect  there  to  walk  uprightly  ?     Can  you  take  fire  into  your 
bosom  and  not  be  burned  1 

I  take  a  long  farewell,  and  wish  you  success  in  every  laudable 
undertaking. 

Your  affectionate  sister, 

H.  LINCOLN. 

TO  HENRY  HILL,  ESQ.,  CAMBRIDGE. 

f  Boston,  May  13,  1775. 

BROTHER  : 

There  never  was  a  time  when  sincerity  and  affectionate  unity 
of  heart  could  be  more  necessary  than  at  present.  But  in  the  midst 
of  the  confusions  that  darken  our  native  land,  we  may  still,  by  a 
rectitude  of  conduct,  entertain  a  rational  hope  ^hat  the  Almighty 
Governor  of  the  universe  will  in  his  own  time  remember  mercy. 

I  am  going,  my  dear  friend,  to  quit  the  habitation  where  I  have 
been  so  long  encircled  with  the  dearest  connections. 

I  am  going  to  hazard  the  unstable  element,  and  for  a  while  to 
change  the  scene — whether  it  will  be  prosperous  or  adverse,  is  not 
for  me  to  determine.  I  pray  God  to  sustain  my  integrity,  and  pre 
serve  me  from  temptation. 

My  political  character  with  you  may  be  suspicious  ;  but  be  as 
sured,  if  I  cannot  serve  my  country,  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  the 
utmost  of  my  power,  I  will  never  betray  it. 

The  unhappy  event  which  took  place  yesterday,  was  as  unex 
pected  as  it  was  distressful ;  my  concern  for  your  safety,  as  well  as 
my  anxiety  for  the  agitation  of  my  dear  partner,  wounded  me  to  the 
heart.  Oh,  cruel  separation.  I  had  many  things  to  say  ;  I  could 
have  talked  with  you  for  ever ;  but  the  will  of  Heaven  forbade  it. 

The  kind  care  of  my  family  you  have  so  generously  offered, 
penetrates  me  with  the  deepest  gratitude.  If  it  should  not  be  in 
my  power  to  reward  you,  you  will  have  that  recompense  greater 
than  I  can  give  you,  the  approbation  of  your  own  heart.  Would 
to  God  we  may  again  enjoy  that  harmonious  intercourse  I  have 
been  favored  with  since  rny  union  with  your  family.  I  will  not 
despair  of  this  great  blessing  in  some  future  and  not  very  distant 
period.  *  *  God  preserve  you  in  health  and  every  earthly  enjoy 
ment,  until  you  again  receive  the  salutation  of 

Your  friend  and  brother,  SAMUEL  QUINCY. 


BIOGRAPHICA-L     NOTICES.  565 


EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  QUINCY'S  LETTERS. 

London,  July  25,  1775. 

*  *  I  have  now  been  here  a  month.  I  have  not  yet  seen 
Lord  North  or  Lord  Dartmouth,  not  because  I  could  not,  but  be 
cause  I  have  not  been  sent  for,  and  choose  my  own  time  if  I  do  it  at 
all.  I  mention  this  to  show  you  how  mistaken  you  are  when  you 
suppose  I  shall  be  strictly  examined.  I  have  just  returned  from  a 
visit  to  one  of  the  first  law  officers,  by  whom  I  was  very  politely 
received.  As  to  politics  I  say  nothing  ;  suffice  it  that  my  opinion 
of  men  and  things  remains  the  same,  and  is  confirmed  every  hour. 
*  *  We  have  just  received  the  news  of  the  battle  of  the  17th  of 
June,  by  the  Cerberus ;  but  this  is  a  subject  on  which  I  dare  not 
venture.  Every  thing  is  peace  here ;  I  wish  it  may  soon  return  to 
my  dear,  dear  country. 

TO    HENRY   HILL,   ESQ. 

London,  August  18,  1775. 

You  conjure  me  by  the  love  of  my  country,  to  use  my  best 
endeavors  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  suggesting  that  the 
Americans  are  still  as  determined  as  ever  to  die  free,  rather  than 
live  slaves ;  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  zeal  of  my  fellow- 
countrymen  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  their  firmness  in  its  de 
fence,  and  were  it  in  my  power,  my  faithful  endeavors  should  not 
be  wanting  (nay,  I  have  a  right  to  say  they  are  not)  to  effect  an 
accommodation.  But,  my  good  friend,  I  am  unhappy  to  find  that 
the  opinion  I  formed  in  America,  and  which  in  a  great  measure 
governed  my  conduct,  was  but  too  justly  founded.  Every  propo 
sal  of  those  who  are  friendly  to  the  colonies,  to  alter  the  measures 
of  government  and  redress  the  grievances  of  which  they  complain, 
is  spurned  at,  unless  attended  with  previous  concessions  on  their 
part.  This  there  is  less  reason  every  day  to  expect,  and  thus  the 
prospect  of  an  accommodation  is  thrown  at  a  distance  ;  nor  is  there 
yet  the  least  reason  to  suppose  that  a  formidable  if  any  opposition 
will  be  framed  against  administration  in  favor  of  America.  The 
people  of  this  country  are  united  in  their  attachment  to  the  reigning 


566  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

prince  and  his  family.  The  king's  ministers  are  their  own ;  and 
though  a  clamor  against  those  who  are  in  power,  which  is  ever  the 
case  in  popular  governments,  in  some  measure  divides  the  metrop 
olis,  the  city  politics  never  were  on  a  lower  ebb.  Their  petitions 
and  remonstrances  are  received  with  indignation,  as  they  are  con 
ceived  to  originate  from  an  anti-ministerial  spirit,  and  not  as  the 
offspring  of  true  patriotism  or  friendship  to  America.  The  politi 
cal  subordination  of  the  colonies  is  in  this  island  a  sacred  tenet.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  very  surprising,  that  the  late  alarming  strides  of 
colony  opposition  have  taught  them  to  suspect  a  determination  to 
emancipate  the  continent  from  every  civil  connection  with  this 
country,  and  a  dangerous  design  of  independency,  notwithstanding 
the  denial  of  it  in  words.  Under  this  apprehension,  the  yeomen, 
merchants,  and  manufacturers,  in  the  inland  parts  of  the  country, 
who  were  wont  to  be  advocates  for  America,  as  far  as  I  am  able 
to  form  a  judgment  both  from  information  and  observation,  are  be 
ginning  to  murmur  against  them.  Their  common  answer  is, 
Whilst  you  were  reasonable  in  your  demands  and  complained  of 
real  burdens,  we  were  willing  to  support  you,  but  we  cannot  ven 
ture  to  assist  American  independence,  lest  we  lay  a  foundation  for 
the  destruction  of  both  countries.  Their  produce  and  manufac 
tures  are  in  quick  demand,  and  likely  to  continue  so,  owing  princi 
pally  to  the  equipment  of  the  Spanish  flota,  and  the  late  Russian 
war.  They  are  therefore  at  peace  and  contented,  immersed  in 
wealth  and  commerce,  and  caring  little  what  passes  beyond  them. 
Some  of  the  principal  American  merchants  here  with  whom  I  have 
conversed,  are  projecting  an  association  promising  their  aid  to  gov 
ernment,  and  publicly  to  convince  America  that  they  are  not  to 
expect  the  assistance  of  the  trade  here  in  support  of  what  they  call 
her  extravagant  claims.  We  look,  say  they,  upon  your  attempts 
to  distress  us  by  stopping  your  commerce,  as  a  mark  of  your  want 
of  honesty,  and  your  pretended  flame  for  liberty  as  only  a  desire  for 
domination  and  empire.  When  the  lord  mayor  carried  up  to  St. 
James's  the  late  city  remonstrance  and  petition  for  the  removal  of 
the  troops  from  Boston,  his  procession,  with  the  usual  parade,  at 
tended  by  the  sheriffs,  aldermen  and  common-council,  excited  little 
attention,  and  was  honored  at  the  palace  gate  with  but  a  dumb 
peal  even  from  the  tattered  rabble. 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  567 

The  effect  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  is  a  resolution  to  send 
more  ships  and  troops,  every  species  of  ammunition  and  warlike 
implements,  and  all  kinds  of  supply  for  the  support  of  Boston ; 
many  of  them  are  already  embarked.  Admiral  Shuldam  supersedes 
Admiral  Graves,  and  Sir  Jeffery  Amherst,  it  is  said,  has  consented 
to  accept  the  command,  and  General  Gage  will  have  leave  to  re 
turn.  What  number  of  troops  will  be  sent  I  am  not  able  to  say,  but 
I  understand  much  greater  in  the  spring,  if  a  negotiation  does  not 
take  place.  I  mention  these  things  minutely,  to  show  you  of  how 
small  importance  are  those  flattering  articles  of  intelligence  which 
sound  well  upon  paper,  and  appear  highly  spirited  and  influential. 
These  are  facts,  not  of  conjecture  only,  but  visible  and  operative. 
Your  reflection  will  perhaps  be,  we  must  then  work  out  our  own  sal 
vation  by  the  strength  of  our  own  arm,  trusting  in  the  Lord.  Really, 
my  friend,  if  the  colonies,  according  to  their  late  declaration,  have 
made  a  resistance  by  force  their  choice,  the  contest  is  in  short  re 
duced  to  that  narrow  compass.  I  view  the  dangerous  and  doubtful 
struggle  with  fear  and  trembling ;  I  lament  it  with  the  most  cor 
dial  affection  for  rny  native  country,  and  feel  sensibly  for  my  friends. 
But  I  am  aware  it  is  my  duty  patiently  to  submit  the  event  as  it 
may  be  governed  by  the  all-wise  counsels  of  that  Being  '  who  ruleth 
in  the  heavens,  and  is  the  God  of  armies. ' 

TO   MRS.  QUINCY. 

London,  Jan.  1,  1777. 

*  The  continuance  of  our  unhappy  separation  has  something 
•in  it  so  unexpected,  so  unprecedented,  so  complicated  with  evil  and 
misfortune,  it  has  become  almost  too  burdensome  for  my  spirits,  nor 
have  I  words  that  can  reach  its  description.  There  are  passing  be 
fore  me  a  thousand  varying  objects,  some  of  them  affording  amuse 
ment,  and  others  admiration.  I  see  many  faces  I  have  been  used 
to.  America  seems  to  be  transplanted  to  London.  St.  James's 
Park  wears  an  appearance  not  unlike  the  Exchange  in  Boston. 
*  *  I  long  much  to  see  my  father.  It  is  now  more  than  eighteen 
months  since  I  parted  with  him  in  a  manner  I  regret.  Neither  of 
you  say  any  thing  of  the  family  at  Braintree.  They  ought  not  to 
think  me  regardless  of  them  though  I  am  silent  j  for,  however 


568  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

lightly  they  may  look  upon  me,  I  yet  remember  them  with  pleas 
ure.  *  *  *  Mr.  David  Greene  is  gone  to  Antigua.  Mr.  Ber- 
gwin,  of  North  Carolina,  is  now  with  me.  *  * 

London,  March  12,  1777. 

You  inquire  whether  I  cannot  bear  contempt  and  reproach, 
rather  than  remain  any  longer  separated  from  my  family  ?  As  I 
always  wished,  and  I  think  always  endeavored,  not  to  deserve  the 
one,  so  will  I  ever  be  careful  to  avoid  the  other.  You  urge  as  an 
inducement  to  my  return,  that  my  countrymen  will  not  deprive  me 
of  life.  1  have  never  once  harbored  such  an  idea.  Sure  I  am  I 
have  never  merited  from  them  such  a  punishment.  Difference  of 
opinion  I  have  never  known  to  be  a  capital  offence,  and  were  the 
truth  and  motives  of  my  conduct  justly  scrutinized,  I  am  persuaded 
they  would  not  regard  me  as  an  enemy  plotting  their  ruin.  That 
I  might  yet  be  able  to  recover  in  some  respects  the  esteem  of  my 
friends,  I  will  not  doubt  while  I  am  conscious  of  the  purity  of  my 
intentions.  When  I  determined  on  a  voyage  to  England,  I  resolved 
upon  deliberation,  and  I  still  think,  with  judgment.  I  did  not,  in 
deed,  expect  so  hurried  a  succession  of  events,  though  you  must 
remember,  I  long  had  them  in  contemplation.  Had  an  accommo 
dation  taken  place,  my  tour  would  have  been  greatly  advantageous, 
especially  on  the  score  of  business ;  what  it  will  be  now,  time  must 
tell. 

I  am  sorry  you  say  nothing  of  my  father,  or  the  family  at 
Braintree;  1  have  not  received  a  line  nor  heard  from  them  since  I 
left  America.  *  *  God  bless  you  all ;  live  happy,  and  think  I  arn 
as  much  so  as  my  long  absence  from  you  will  permit. 

March  20,  1777. 

I  am  not  surprised  much  that,  to  the  loss  of  property,  I  have 
already  sustained,  I  am  to  suffer  further  depredations,  and  that 
those  to  whom  I  am  under  contract  should  avail  themselves  of  this 
opportunity  and  endeavor  to  make  what  is  left  their  own.  All  I 
ask  is  that  my  brother  and  my  other  friends  (if  I  have  any)  would 
think  of  me  as  they  ought,  and  to  be  assured,  that  as  far  as  they  inter 
pose  their  assistance  to  save  me  from  suffering,  they  will  not  here 
after  find  me  deficient  in  return. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES.  569 

October  15,  1777. 

If  things  should  not  wear  a  more  promising  aspect  at  the  open- 
ing  of  the  next  year,  by  all  means  summon  resolution  to  cross  the 
ocean.  But  if  there  is  an  appearance  of  accommodating  this  truly 
unnatural  contest,  it  would  be  advisable  for  you  to  bear  farther 
promise ;  as  I  mean  to  return  to  my  native  country  whenever  I 
may  be  permitted,  and  there  is  a  chance  for  my  procuring  a  live 
lihood.  But  I  do  not  say  that  I  will  not  accept  of  an  opening  here, 
if  any  one  should  offer  that  I  may  think  eligible. 

London,  April  18,  1778. 

The  late  unexpected  change  of  the  state  of  public  affairs  in 
this  kingdom  has  occasioned  a  variety  of  speculation  among  men 
of  moderate  principles  in  both  parties.  While  some  construe  the 
concessions  of  parliament  as  the  effect  of  fear  and  pusillanimity, 
others  regard  them  as  the  offspring  of  humanity,  a  desire  to  put  an 
end  to  war  and  the  fruitless  effusion  of  kindred  blood.  The  pros 
pect  of  a  foreign  rupture  has  doubtless  its  weight ;  but  a  wish  to 
restore  the  confidence  of  America  by  generous  overtures,  and  its 
dependence  by  a  mild  administration  of  government,  I  believe  is 
really  a  principal  foundation  of  the  present  terms.  Would  to  God 
they  may  be  such  as  will  meet  the  voice  and  wish  of  the  colonies, 
and  the  result  be  a  reunion  of  two  countries  whose  interests,  in  my 
opinion,  can  never  be  divided.  I  have  lived  to  see  the  beginning, 
and  thus  far  the  progress  of  this  cruel  convulsion  ;  my  prayer  is 
that  I  may  live  to  see  the  end  of  it.  It  has  produced  effects  won 
derful  and  illustrious ;  in  some  of  which  we  may  discern  and  ad 
mire  the  great  hand  of  Providence,  in  others  the  havoc  of  corrupt 
passions  and  ambition.  Devastation  and  death  are  inseparable 
attendants  in  the  train  of  war.  I  regret  my  once  happy  conntry 
has,  in  so  short  a  time,  experienced  so  large  a  share  of  them.  They 
are  events  I  have  long  ago  trembled  at  as  a  picture  of  imagination 
only ;  rny  heart  is,  however,  now  disburdened  in  some  degree  by 
a  prospect  that  the  wrath  of  man  will  no  longer  prevail  to  the  de 
struction  of  life  and  property. 

By  the  favor  of  Lord  Willoughby  (of  Parham)  with  whom,  by 
the  kindness  of  my  friend  Mr.  Fraser,  I  have  the  honor  of  an  inti 
mate  acquaintance,  my  curiosity  has  been  several  times  gratified 

72 


570  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

by  an  access  to  the  house  of  lords,  during  the  most  important  in 
quiries  ;  particularly  about  ten  days  since,  when  the  great  Lord 
Chatham  came  down  to  the  house  tottering  upon  his  feeble  limbs, 
to  give  his  voice  and  advice  on  the  present  critical  and  dangerous 
exigence  of  the  state.  The  business  of  the  day  being  introduced 
by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Lord  Chatham  rose,  and  in  a  faltering 
tone  of  voice,  manifestly  enfeebled  since  I  heard  him  before,  began 
his  remarks  by  recurring  to  former  periods  of  national  alarm, 
compared  them  to  the  evils  now  complained  of,  pointing  out  the 
causes  and  their  remedy,  and  then  delivered  his  opinion  on  the  two 
great  questions  of  a  war  with  France,  and  the  independence  of 
America.  His  speech  was  short  to  what  I  expected,  and  I  believe 
much  shorter  than  he  intended.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  rose  in 
reply,  and  with  some  asperity  objected  to  what  had  fallen  from  the 
noble  earl.  Whether  this  or  mere  bodily  weakness  was  the  cause 
I  know  not,  but  just  as  the  duke  had  finished,  his  lordship  suddenly 
fainted.  The  house  was  immediately  ordered  to  be  cleared,  and 
the  doors  and  windows  set  open  ;  but  eager  to  see  so  celebrated  a 
senator,  as  I  thought  in  his  last  moments,  I  ventured  to  press 
in  again,  and  saw  him  borne  off  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland  and  other  noblemen  of  the  first  distinction,  pale  and 
speechless. 

<;  Silent  that  tongue, 
On  which,  enrapt,  admiring  senates  hung." 

It  was  a  grand  though  an  affecting  sight !  Supposing  him  to 
be  near  his  exit,  I  almost  wished  to  see  him  die  within  those  walls, 
where  for  so  many  years  he  has  figured  to  his  own  honor  and  the 
glory  of  his  country.  * 

If  there  is  an  accommodation,  I  shall  certainly  turn  my  views 
to  some  part  of  the  continent,  unless  something  very  promising 
should  offer  elsewhere.  It  would  grieve  me  very  much  to  think  of 
never  again  seeing  my  father  ;  God  bless  him,  and  many  other 
worthy  friends  and  relations  in  New  England  ;  but  a  return  to  my 
native  country  I  cannot  be  reconciled  to  until  I  am  convinced  that 
I  am  as  well  thought  of  as  I  know  I  deserve  to  be.  I  shall  ever 
rejoice  in  its  prosperity,  but  am  too  proud  to  live  despised  where 
I  was  once  respected — an  object  of  insult  instead  of  the  child  of 
favor.  *  * 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES.  57 1 

You  suggest,  that  had  I  remained,!  might  still  have  been  with 
you  in  honor  and  employment.  It  may  be  so,  but  when  I  left 
America  I  had  no  expectation  of  being  absent  more  than  a  few 
months,  little  thinking  operations  of  such  magnitude  would  have 
followed  in  so  quick  a  succession ;  I  left  it  from  principle,  and  with 
a  view  of  emolument.  If  I  have  been  mistaken  it  is  my  misfortune, 
not  my  fault.  My  first  letters  from  my  friends  congratulated  me 
on  being  out  of  the  way ;  and  I  was  pleased  to  find  my  under 
taking  met  with  their  approbation  as  well  as  my  own.  The  hearts 
of  men  were  not  within  my  reach,  nor  the  fortuitous  event  of  things 
within  my  control.  "  I  am  indeed  a  poor  man  ;"  but  even  a  poor 
man  has  resources  of  comfort  that  cannot  be  torn  from  him,  nor 
are  any  so  miserable  as  to  be  always  under  the  influence  of  inau 
spicious  stars.  I  will  therefore  still  endeavor  to  bear  my  calamities 
with  firmness,  and  to  feel  for  others. 

*  *  Those  who  have  befriended  my  family  are  entitled  to  my 
warmest  gratitude,  and  I  hojte  you  will  never  fail  to  express  it  for 
me.  Whether  it  ever  will  be  in  my  power  to  recompense  them  I 
know  not,  but  no  endeavor  of  mine  shall  be  wanting  to  effect  it. 
*  I  conjecture,  though  you  do  not  mention  from  what  quar 
ter,  you  have  received  urikindness.  There  are  in  this  world  many 
things  we  are  obliged  and  enabled  to  encounter,  which  at  a  dis 
tance  appear  insupportable.  You  must  have  experienced  this  as 
well  as  I ;  and  it  ought  to  teach  us  that  best  doctrine  of  philoso 
phy  and  religion — resignation.  Bear  up,  therefore,  with  fortitude, 
and  wait  patiently  in  expectation  of  a  calmer  and  brighter  day. 

London,  May  31,  1778. 

By  the  public  prints  we  are  made  acquainted  with  an  act  of 
the  state  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  that  precludes  those  among  others 
from  returning,  who  left  it  since  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  and 
"joined  the  enemy."  You  do  not  mention  this  act,  nor  have  I  any 
information  by  which  I  am  to  construe  what  is  meant  by  "  joining 
the  enemy."  The  love  of  one's  country,  and  solicitude  for  its  wel 
fare,  are  natural  and  laudable  affections ;  to  lose  its  good  opinion 
is  at  once  unhappy,  and  attended  with  many  ill  consequences^  how 
much  more  unfortunate  to  be  for  ever  excluded  from  it  without  of 
fence  !  It  is  said  also  that  there  is  a  resolve  of  congress,  "  that  no 


572  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

absentee  shall  be  permitted  to  take  up  his  residence  in  any  other 
colony  without  having  been  first  received  and  admitted  as  a  citizen 
of  his  own."  This  may  have  some  effect  on  a  movement  I  had  in 
contemplation  of  going  southward,  where  I  have  a  very  advan 
tageous  offer  of  countenance  and  favor. 

London,  March  15,  1779. 

"  You  may  remember  in  some  of  my  former  letters  I  hinted 
my  wish  to  establish  a  residence  in  some  other  part  of  the  conti 
nent,  or  in  the  West  Indies,  and  particularly  mentioned  to  you  An 
tigua — where  my  kinsman  Mr.  Wendell,  my  friend  Mr.  David 
Greene,  Dr.  Russell  and  his  family,  Mr.  Lavicourt,  Mr.  Vassall, 
and  others  of  my  acquaintance,  will  give  the  island  less  of  the  ap 
pearance  of  a  strange  place.  By  the  passing  of  the  act  of  proscrip 
tion  the  door  was  shut  against  me  in  my  own  country,  where  I 
own  it  would  have  been  my  wish  to  have  ended  my  days.  This 
confirmed  my  resolution.  I  have  since  unremittedly  pursued 
various  objects,  endeavoring  to  drive  the  nail  that  would  go. 

My  first  intention  was  that  of  transplanting  myself  somewhere 
to  the  southward.  On  this  subject  I  thought  long,  and  consulted 
others.  I  considered  climate,  friends,  business,  prospects  in  every 
view,  and  at  last  formed  my  opinion.  The  provinces  in  the  south 
part  of  America  in  point  of  health  were  not  more  favorable  than 
the  islands — in  point  of  friends  they  might  be  preferable,  but  with 
respect  to  business  or  the  means  of  acquiring  it,  uncertain ;  public 
commotion  yet  continued,  violent  prejudices  are  not  easily  removed. 
I  had  neither  property  nor  natural  connections  in  either  of  them. 
I  could  have  no  official  influence  to  sustain  me.  WThat  kind  of 
government  or  laws  would  finally  prevail  it  was  difficult  to  tell. 
These  and  other  reasons  determined  me  against  the  attempt.  But 
to  stay  longer  in  England,  absent  from  my  friends  and  family,  with 
a  bare  subsistence,  inactive,  without  prospects,  and  useless  to  my 
self  and  the  world,  was  death  to  me !  What  was  the  alternative  1 
As  I  saw  no  chance  of  procuring  either  appointment  or  employ 
here,  the  old  object  of  the  W7est  Indies  recurred,  where  in  ray 
younger  days  I  wished  to  have  remained ;  and  by  the  influence  of 
some  particular  gentlemen  I  have  at  last  obtained  the  place  of 
"  Comptroller  of  the  Customs  at  the  port  of  Parharn  in  Antigua;" 


BIOGRAPHICAL      NOTICES.  573 

for  which  island  I  mean  to  embark  with  the  next  convoy.  My 
view  is  to  join  the  profits  of  business  in  the  line  of  my  profession 
to  the  emoluments  of  office.  This  I  flatter  myself  will  afford  me  a 
handsome  maintenance.  I  grow  old  too  fast  to  think  of  waiting 
longer  for  the  moving  of  the  waters,  and  have  therefore  cast  my 
bread  upon  them,  thus  in  hopes  that  at  last,  after  many  days,  I  may 
find  it. 

Transmit  to  my  father  every  expression  of  duty  and  affection. 
If  he  retains  the  same  friendship  and  parental  fondness  for  me  I 
have  always  experienced  from  him,  he  will  patronize  my  children, 
and  in  doing  this  he  will  do  it  unto  me.  It  was  my  intention  to 
have  written  to  him,  but  the  subjects  on  which  I  want  to  treat  are 
too  personally  interesting  for  the  casualties  of  the  present  day. 
He  may  rest  assured  it  is  my  greatest  unhappiness  to  be  thus  denied 
the  pleasing  task  of  lightening  his  misfortunes  and  soothing  the 
evening  of  his  days.  Whatever  may  be  the  future  events  of  his 
life,  I  shall  always  retain  for  him  the  warmest  filial  respect,  and  if 
it  is  my  lot  to  survive  him,  shall  ever  think  it  a  pleasure  as  well  as 
my  duty  to  promote  to  my  utmost  the  welfare  of  his  posterity.  My 
mother  will  also  accept  of  my  duty  and  good  wishes;  the  prosper 
ity  of  the  whole  household  lies  near  my  heart,  and  they  will  do 
me  injustice  if  they  think  me  otherwise  than  their  affectionate 
friend.  *  *  * 

Col.  Scott  yesterday  received  a  letter  from  his  wife,  by  the 
Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  by  which  I  learn  you  were  all  well  the  4th 
January  last.  *  * 

With  respect  to  my  property  in  America,  my  wish  and  desire  is,, 
if  I  have  any  control  over  it,  that  my  friends  there  collectively, 
or  some  one  singly  under  your  direction,  would  take  it  into  their 
hands,  and  consolidating  the  debts  I  owe  into  one  sum,  apply  it  to 
their  discharge.  I  can  think  of  no  better  way  than  this.  If 
eventually  I  am  deprived  of  it,  I  will  endeavor  to  bear  it  with  that 
fortitude  which  becomes  a  Christian  and  philosopher. 

P.  S.  I  could  wish  above  all  things  to  preserve  my  law  books. 

TO   HENRY   HILL,   ESQ. 

London,  May  25,  1779. 
«  *  *  I  have  obtained  an  appointment  at  Parham,  in  Antigua, 


574  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

as  comptroller  of  the  customs,  and  am  to  embark  soon  for  St.  Kitts. 
*  *  It  is  this  day  four  years  since  I  left  Boston,  and  though  I 
have  been  racked  by  my  own  misfortunes  and  my  feelings  for  the 
distresses  of  my  family  and  friends,  I  have  still  by  a  good  Provi 
dence  been  blessed  with  health  and  comforted  by  the  kindness  of 
many  friends.  If  I  have  not  been  in  affluence,  I  have  been  above 
want,  and  happy  in  the  esteem  of  numbers  in  this  kingdom  to  whom 
I  was  altogether  a  stranger.  *  *  The  education  of  my  children 
is  uppermost  in  my  heart.  The  giving  my  son  the  benefit  of  classi 
cal  learning  by  a  course  of  college  studies,  is  a  step  I  much  approve. 
The  sequestration  of  my  books  is  more  mortifying  to  me  than  any 
other  stroke.  If  they  are  not  yet  out  of  your  power  save  them  for 
me  at  all  events. 

TO    THE   REV.    DR.    WIGGLESWORTH,    HOLLIS    PROFESSOR    OF    DIVINITY, 

CAMBRIDGE. 

Migua,  June  28, 1782. 

*  *  Nothing  has  laid  so  near  my  heart  during  my  absence 
and  misfortunes  as  the  advancement  of  the  education  of  my  chil 
dren.  The  honor  my  son  is  about  to  receive  at  the  approaching 
solemnities  I  hope  will  be  well  earned.  *  *  *  It  was  always  my 
desire,  and  more  than  once  have  I  intimated  to  you  my  inclination, 
to  turn  my  thoughts  .and  influence  towards  the  prosperity  of  the 
college ;  how  that  object  has  been  defeated  needs  no  explanation. 
I  was  ever  their  well  wisher — they  would  have  found  me  their 
benefactor. 

In  a  copy  of  a  letter  to  a  friend,  apparently  in  the  West  Indies, 
but  whose  name  does  not  appear,  Mr.  Quincy  thus  expresses 
himself : 

Antigua,  Feb.  1,  1782. 

You  ask  of  me  an  account  of  my  coming  to  the  West  Indies, 
the  manner  of  my  existence,  and  destination,  &c.  The  story  is 
long,  and  would  require  many  anecdotes  to  give  the  true  history, 
but  you  will  excuse  me  if  at  present  I  say  only,  that  in  the  year 
1775,  just  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  I  quitted  America  for  Lon 
don  on  motives  of  business,  intending  to  return  in  a  few  months ; 
but  my  absence  was  construed  by  our  good  patriots  as  the  effect  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  575 

my  political  principles,  arid  improved  first  to  my  proscription,  after 
wards  to  the  very  flattering  title  of  traitorous  conspirator,  and 
the  confiscation  of  my  estate.  I  remained  in  England  several 
years,  but,  tired  of  waiting  for  the  moving  of  the  waters,  and  unwil 
ling  to  waste  the  flower  of  my  age  in  a  state  of  indolence,  neither 
profitable  to  myself  nor  my  family,  I  resolved  to  seek  my  fortune  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  where  I  had  been  in  my  younger  days, — 
obtained  a  berth  in  the  customs,  which,  together  with  the  emolu 
ments  of  my  profession,  afford  me  a  comfortable  subsistence,  and 
the  prospect  of  something  beyond. 

Your  friend,  &c., 

SAMUEL  QUINCY. 
i 

TO   HENRY  HILL,   ESQ.,   EOSTON. 

St.  Christopher,  July  26,  1783. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER  : 

I  am  sorry  to  find  that  the  letters  you  wrote  me  after  the  tidings 
you  received  of  my  loss  of  your  dear  sister,*  never  reached  me,  as 
by  that  means  I  was  deprived  of  the  consolations,  which  the  sym 
pathy  of  our  friends  affords  in  the  hour  of  grief.  *  *  For  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  however  painful  the  idea  that  we  are  for  ever 
separated  from  our  friends,  there  is  something  pleasing  to  me  in 
calling  to  memory  the  conversations,  the  attitudes,  which  present 
them  in  the  strongest  point  of  view,  the  occasions  upon  which,  and 
the  places  where  they  have  most  administered  to  our  felicity  and 
comfort.  If  this  is  not  the  case,  how  great  a  part  of  the  small  pit 
tance  of  enjoyment  allotted  to  us  in  this  life  is  broken  off.  How 
many  of  our  former  friendships  and  sweetest  intercourse  would  be 
for  ever  obliterated,  and  dead  to  recollection ;  our  fund  of  gratifi 
cation  would  be  confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  the  objects  imme 
diately  around  us. 

There  is  in  some  persons  a  strange  kind  of  reluctance  to 
conversing  about  their  dead  friends  ;  as  if  those  passages  in  their 
character  which  render  their  memory  dear,  could  not  be  thought 
upon  without  recalling  the  circumstances  of  their  departure. 

To  die  is  the  lot  of  humanity  ;  if  the  sentiments  and  conduct 
of  those  who  have  been  separated  from  us,  are  such  as  have 

*  The  wife  of  Mr.  Quincy,  who  died  Nov.  1782. 


576  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

afforded  us  either  amusement  or  instruction,  and  their  example  wor 
thy  of  imitation,  the  more  we  meditate  or  confer  upon  their  native 
and  ornamental  graces,  the  more  we  pay  them  honor ;  the  more 
likely  are  we  (at  the  same  time  that  we  receive  a  sensible  grati 
fication)  to  imbibe  the  amiable  qualities  in  which  they  excelled, 
and  to  adopt  their  virtues.  *  *  *  ' 

If  the  events  of  life  were  under  our  control,  it  is  probable 
we  should  endeavor  to  govern  them  to  the  purpose  of  our  views. 
In  that  case  I  should  soon  be  in  the  society  of  my  nearest  friends  ; 
it  would  be  immaterial  to  me  in  what  part  of  the  world,  for  I  have 
long  since  learned  that  happiness  is  not  confined  to  any  particular 
spot :  diffused  equally  through  the  immense  space  of  air  and  earth, 
the  animal  part  of  creation,  whether  rational  or  brute,  possess  it  in 
every  region;  and  most  likely  were  we  permitted  to  carve  for 
ourselves,  our  fortunes  would  be  still  more  chequered  than  they 
are.  This  reflection,  at  the  same  time  it  expands  our  idea  of  the 
Deity,  has  a  tendency  to  teach  us  acquiescence  in  the  state  to 
which  we  are  destined.  Change  seems  to  be  as  necessary  to  sus 
tain  the  present  link  of  being  as  air  and  food,  for  though  the  acci 
dental  ties  of  birth,  kindred,  and  friendship,  have  a  powerful 
influence  on  our  affections,  if  the  latter  is  met  with  where  least 
expected,  it  has  there  its  most  peculiar  energy,  and  the  former 
gradually  lessen  as  the  probability  of  restoring  them  is  removed  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree. 

TO  SAMUEL  QUINCY,  JR.,  CAMBRIDGE. 

June  10,  1785. 

How  anxious  soever  I  may  feel  to  see  my  friends  and  rela 
tions  once  more,  I  cannot  think  of  doing  it  at  the  expense  of  my 
liberty  ;  nor  will  I  ever  visit  that  country  where  I  first  drew  my 
breath,  but  upon  such  terms  as  I  have  always  lived  in  it ;  and 
such  as  I  have  still  a  right  to  claim  from  those  who  possess  it, — 
the  character  of  a  gentleman.  *  *  *  The  proposal  Judge  Sumner 
has  hinted  to  me  of  keeping  his  old  berth  for  you  at  Roxbury,  is  a 
good  one,  at  least  better  than  Boston.  Cultivate  his  good  opinion, 
and  deserve  his  patronage ;  he  will  bestow  the  latter  for  my  sake, 
I  trust,  as  well  as  his  personal  esteem  for  you.  It  will  also  stand 
you  in  stead  at  court,  where  I  hope  you  will  one  day  figure  as  a 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES.  577 

legislator  as  well  as  an  advocate.  All  depends  upon  setting  out 
right.  You  are  at  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  or  ought  to  consider 
yourself  so;  from  whence,  if  you  fall,  the  "  revocare  gradum,)f  is 
a  task  indeed.  Resolve,  then,  to  think  right,  and  act  well ;  keep 
ing  up  to  that  resolution  will  procure  you  daily  the  attention  of  all 
ranks,  and  command  for  you  their  respect.  Keep  alive  the  cause 
of  truth,  of  reason,  of  virtue,  and  of  liberty,  if  I  may  be  permitted 
to  use  that  name,  who  have  by  some  injuriously  been  thought  in  a 
conspiracy  against  it.  This  is  the  path  of  duty,  and  will  be  the 
source  of  blessing. 

• 

July  24,  1789. 

I  am  exceedingly  sorry  to  hear  of  the  distracted  political  situa 
tion  of  Massachusetts.  *  *  *  A  constitution  founded  on  mere 
republican  principles  has  always  appeared  to  me  a  many-headed 
monster,  and,  however  applauded  by  a  Franklin,  a  Price,  and  a 
Priestley,  that  in  the^nd  it  must  become  a  suicide.  Mankind  do 
not  in  experience  appear  formed  for  that  finer  system,  which,  in 
theory,  by  the  nice  adjustment  of  its  parts  promises  permanency 
and  repose.  The  passions,  prejudices,  and  interests  of  some  will 
always  be  in  opposition  to  others,  especially  if  they  are  in  place. 
This,  it  may  be  said,  is  the  ease  in  all  governments,  but  I  think 
less  so  in  a  monarchy  than  under  a  republican  code.  The  people 
at  large  feel  an  overbalance  of  power  in  their  own  favor ;  they 
will  naturally  endeavor  to  ease  themselves  of  all  expenses  which 
are  not  lucrative  to  them,  and  retrench  the  gains  of  others,  whether 
the  reward  of  merit  or  genius,  or  the  wages  of  a  hireling. 

Tortola,  June  1,  1789. 
MY  DEAR  SON  : 

Your  short  letter  of  the  14th  February  gave  me  pleasure,  as  it 
informed  me  of  your  health  and  that  of  your  family,  and  other 
friends  in  the  neighborhood  of  Roxbury.  * 

It  would  be  my  wish  to  make  you  a  visit  once  more  in  my  life, 
could  it  be  ascertained  I  might  walk  free  of  insult,  and  unmolested 
in  person.  Two  things  must  concur  to  satisfy  me  of  this, — the 
repeal  of  the  act  passed  1779,  against  certain  crown  officers,  as 
traitors,  conspirators,  &c.-;  and  accommodation  with  those  who 

73 


578  BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTICES. 

have  against  me  pecuniary  demands.  The  first  I  have  never  yet 
learned  to  be  repealed,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  therefore  I 
consider  it  as  a  stumbling-block  at  the  threshold ;  the  second,  no 
steps  I  suppose  have  been  taken  to  effect,  although  I  think  it 
might  be  done  by  inquiry  and  proposition — with  some  by  a  total 
release  from  demand,  and  with  others  by  a  reasonable  compromise. 
If  you  ever  wish  your  father  to  repose  under  your  roof,  you  will 
take  some  pains  to  examine  the  list,  and  make  the  trial.  I  shall 
shortly,  I  hope,  be  in  a  situation  to  leave  this  country,  if  I  choose 
it ;  but  whether  Europe,  of  the  two  objects  I  have  in  view,  will 
take  the  preference,  may  depend  on  the  answer  I  may  receive  from 
you,  upon  the  hints  I  have  now  thrown  out  for  your  consideration 
and  filial  exertions. 

I  have  been,  as  I  informed  you  in  my  last,  a  good  deal  indis 
posed  for  some  time  past.     I  find  myself,  however,  better  on  the 
whole  at  present,  though  I  feel  the  want  of  a  bracing  air.     Adieu. 
•  Your  affectionate  parent, 

SAMUEL  QUINCY. 

Soon  after  the  date  of  this  last  letter,  Mr.  Quincy  embarked  for 
England,  accompanied  by  his  wife.*  The  restoration  of  his  health 
was  the  object  of  the  voyage,  but  the  effort  was  unsuccessful ;  he 
died  at  sea,  within  sight  of  the  English  coast.  His  remains  were 
carried  to  England,  and  interred  on  Bristol  hill.  His  widow  imme 
diately  re-embarked  for  the  West  Indies,  but  her  voyage  was 
tempestuous.  Grief  for  the  loss  of  her  husband,  to  whom  she  was 
strongly  attached,  and  suffering  from  the  storm  her  vessel  encoun 
tered,  terminated  her  life  on  her  homeward  passage. 

*  Mr.  Quincy  was  married  to  a  second  wife  at  Antigua. 


LINES  BY  DR.  COOPER,  PRESIDENT  OF  KING'S,  NOW 
COLUMBIA,  COLLEGE. 

The  following  lines  were  written  by  Dr.  Cooper,  in  England, 
on  the  10th  of  May,  1776,  the  anniversary  of  his  departure  from 
New-York.  As  it  is  descriptive  of  his  precipitate  flight  from  the 
college,  to  avoid  the  outrages  of  a  mob,  this  effusion  may  be 
regarded  as  a  document  of  historical  interest,  aside  from  the 
beauty  of  the  poetry. 


To  thee,  O  God!  by  whom  I  live, 
The  tribute  of  my  soul  I  give, 

On  this  revolving  day  : 
To  thee,  O  God!  my  voice  I  raise, 
To  thee  address  my  grateful  praise, 

And  swell  the  duteous  lay. 
Nor  has  this  orb  unceasing  run 
Its  annual  circle,  round  the  sun, 

Since  when  the  heirs  of  strife, 
Led  by  the  pale  moon's  midnight  ray, 
And  bent  on  mischief,  urged  their  way 

To  seize  my  guiltless  life. 
At  ease  rny  weary  limbs  were  laid, 
And  slumbers  sweet  around  me  shed 

The  blessings  of  repose  : 
Unconscious  of  the  dark  design, 
I  knew  no  base  intent  was  mine, 

And  therefore  fear'd  no  foes. 


Nor  yet  content— but  hoping  still, 
Their  impious  purpose  to  fulfil, 

They  force  each  yielding  door ; 
And  whilst  their  curses  load  my  head, 
With  piercing  steel  they  probe  the  bed, 

And  thirst  for  human  gore. 
Meanwhile  along  the  sounding  shore, 
Where  Hudson's  waves  incessant  roar, 

I  work  my  weary  way  ; 
And  skirt  the  windings  of  the  tide, 
My  faithful  pupil  by  my  side, 

Nor  wish  the  approach  of  day. 
At  length  ascending  from  the  beach, 
With  hopes  reviv'd  by  morn,  I  reach 

The  good  Palenion'st  cot  ; 
Where  free  from  terror  and  affright, 
I  calmly  wait  the  coming  night, 

My  every  fear  forgot. 


When  straight  a  heaven-directed  youth,*  'Twas  then  I  scal'd  the  vessel's  §  side, 


Whom  oft  my  lessons  led  to  truth. 

And  honor's  sacred  shrine, 
Advancing  quick,  before  the  rest, 
With  trembling  tongue  my  ear  addrest, 

Yet  sure  in  voice  divine  : 
"  Awake  !  awake  !  the  storm  is  nigh — 
This  instant  rouse — this  instant  fly — 

The  next  may  be  too  late  : 
Four  hundred  men,  a  hostile  band, 
Access  importunate  demand, 

And  shake  the  groaning  gate." 
I  wake — I  fly — whilst  loud  and  near 
Dread  execrations  wound  my  ear, 

And  sore  my  soul  dismay  ; 
One  avenue  alone  remain'd, 
A  speedy  passage  there  I  gain'd 

And  wing'd  my  rapid  way. 
That  moment  all  the  furious  throng, 
An  entrance  forcing,  pour'd  along, 
And  fill'd  my  peaceful  cell  ;t 


Where  all  the  amities  abide 

That  mortal  worth  can  boast ; 
Whence,  with  a  longing,  lingering  view, 
I  bid  my  much-lov'd  York  adieu, 

And  sought  my  native  coast. 
Now  all  compos'd,  from  danger  far, 
1  hear  no  more  the  din  of  war, 

Nor  shudder  at  alarms  ; 
But  safely  sink  each  night  to  rest, 
I\'o  malice  rankling  through  my  breast, 

In  freedom's  fostering  arms. 
Though  stripp'd  of  most  the  world  admires, 
Yet  torn  by  fewuntam'd  desires, 

I  rest  in  calm  content ; 
And  humbly  hope  a  gracious  Lord 
Again  those  blessings  will  afford, 

Which  once  his  bounty  lent. 
Yet  still  for  many  a  faithful  friend, 
Shall  day  by  day  my  vows  ascend 

Thy  dwelling,  O  rny  God  ! 


Where  harmless  jest,  and  modest  rnirth,  Who  steady  still  in  virtue's  cause, 
And  cheerful  laughter  oft  had  birth,  Despiping  faction's  mimic  laws, 

And  joy  was  wont  to  dwell.  The  paths  of  peace  have  trod. 

Not  ev'n  the  Muses'  hallow'd  fane,  Nor  yet  for  friend  alone— for  ail 

Their  lawless  fury  can  restrain,  Too  prone  to  heed  sedition's  call, 

Or  check  their  headlong  haste ;  Hear  me,  indulgent  Heaven  ! 

They  push  them  from  their  solemn  seat,  O !  may  they  cast  their  arms  away, 
Profane  their  long  rever'd  retreat,  To  Thee,  and  George,  submission  pay, 

And  lay  their  Pindus  waste.  Repent  and  be  forgiven  ! 


*  Mr.  Nicholas  Ogden. 

t  Mr.  Siuyvesant's  seat  in  the  Bowery. 


t  King's,  now  Columbia  College. 

§  Kingfisher,  sloop  of  war,  bound  to  England. 


NEW-YORK  CONFISCATION  ACT. 

An  Act  for  the  Forfeiture  and  Sale  of  the  estates  of  Persons  who  have 
adhered  to  the  Enemies  of  this  State,  and  for  declaring  the  Sove 
reignty  of  the  People  of  this  State  in  respect  to  all  property  within 
the  same.— Passed,  October  22,  1789. 

Therefore  be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  New- York,  etc., 
That  John  Murray,  Earl  of  Dunmore,  formerly  governor  of  the  colony  of 
New-York,  William  Tryon,  Esq.,  late  governor  of  the  said  colony,  John 
Watts,  Oliver  De  Lancey,  Hugh  Wallace,  Henry  White,  John  Harris 
Cruger,  William  Axtell,  and  Roger  Morris,  Esq.,  late  members  of  the 
council  of  the  said  county;  George  Duncan  Ludlow  and  Thomas  Jones, 
late  justices  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  said  colony  ;  John  Tabor  Kempe, 
late  attorney-general  of  the  said  colony;  William  Bayard,  Robert 
Bayard,  and  James  De  Lancey,  now  or  late  of  the  city  of  New-York, 
Esqs. ;  David  Matthews,  late  mayor  of  said  city ;  James  Jauncey,  George 
Folliot,  Thomas  White,  William  McAdam,  Isaac  Low,  Miles  Sherbrook, 
Alexander  Wallace,  and  John  Wetherhead,  now  or  late  of  the  said  city, 
merchants;  Charles  Inglis,  of  the  said  city,  clerk,  and  Margaret  his  wife; 
Sir  John  Johnson,  late  of  the  county  of  Tryon,  knight  and  baronet;  Guy 
Johnson,  Daniel  Claus,  and  John  Butler,  now  or  late  of  the  said  county, 
Esq. ;  and  John  Joost  Herkemer,  now  or  late  of  the  said  county, 
yeoman ;  Frederick  Philipse  and  James  De  Lancey,  now  or  late  of  the 
county  of  Westchester,  Esqs. ;  Frederick  Philipse,  (son  of  Frederick,) 
now  or  late  of  the  said  county,  gentleman;  David  Golden,  Daniel  Kis- 
sam  the  elder,  and  Gabriel  Ludlow,  now  or  late  of  Queen's  county,  Esqs. ; 
Philip  Skeene,  now  or  late  of  the  county  of  Charlotte,  Esq.,  and  Andrew 
P.  Skeene,  son  of  Philip  Skeene,  late  of  Charlotte  county;  Benjamin 
Seaman  and  Christopher  Billop,  now  or  late  of  the  county  of  Richmond, 
Esqs. ;  Beverly  Robinson,  Beverly  Robinson  the  younger,  and  Mal- 
com  Morrison,  now  or  late  of  the  county  of  Dutchess,  Esqs. ;  John  Kane, 
now  or  late  of  the  said  county,  gentleman;  Abraham  C.  Cuyler,  now  or 
laie  of  the  county  of  Albany,  Esq. ;  Robert  Leake,  Edward  Jessup,  and 
Ebenezer  Jessup,  now  or  late  of  the  said  county,  gentlemen ;  and  Peter 
Du  Bois  and  Thomas  H.  Barclay,  now  or  late  of  the  county  of  Ulster, 
Esqs. ;  Susannah  Robinson,  wife  to  the  said  Beverly  Robinson,  and 
Mary  Morris,  wife  to  the  said  Roger  Morris  ;  John  Rapelje,  of  Kings 
county,  Esq. ;  George  Morrison,  Richard  Floyd,  and  Parker  Wickham, 
of  Suffolk  county,  Esqs.;  Henry  Lloyd  the  elder,  late  of  the  state  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  merchant ;  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  knight,  be  and 
each  of  them  are  hereby  severally  declared  to  be,  ipso  facto,  convicted 
and  attainted  of  the  offence  aforesaid;  and  that  all  and  singular  the 
estate,  both  real  and  personal,  held  or  claimed  by  them  the  said  persons 
severally  and  respectively,  whether  in  possession,  reversion  or  remainder, 
within  this  state,  on  the  day  of  the  passing  of  this  act,  shall  be,  and  here 
by  is  declared  to  be  forfeited  to,  and  vested  in  the  People  of  this  State. 


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